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EXILES IN VIRGINIA 



WITH OBSERVATIONS 






ON THE CONDUCT OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 



COMPRISING- 



THE OFFICIAL PAPERS OF THE GOVERNMENT 



RELATING TO THAT PERIOD. 



1777—1778. 



I 

PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED FOR THE SUBSCRIBERS. 

1848. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, 

By Thomas Gilpin, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 



C. SHERMAN, PRINTER, 
19 St. James Street. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Introduction to the Journal of the Exiles gives a brief 
narrative of the banishment of several citizens of Philadelphia, 
who were sent to Virginia, at the beginning of the war of the 
American Revolution, and of the events connected with it, until 
they were remanded by Congress to Pennsylvania to be dis- 
charged. And it gives a general account of the Society of 
Friends in the Province, previously to that time. 

The Journal was kept by those of the company who were 
members of the Society, and refers to the peculiar situation in 
which they were placed in consequence of the general Resolu- 
tions of the Congress of the United States, respecting the war ; 
out of which Resolutions, arose the Orders of the Supreme 
Executive Council of Pennsylvania, which directed the arrest 
of the Friends, and fixed the place of their exile. 

To the Journal are added observations of the Society of 
Friends, upon this treatment of their members, and a defence 
against the charges made, respecting their political conduct; 
these exhibit a refutation of the alleged authorship of the seve- 
ral publications imputed to them, which had been sent to Con- 
gress, and though obviously not worthy of credit, were printed, 
and circulated by its order, to the prejudice of the Society. 

In the Appendix will be found copies of the Minutes of the 
Congress, and of the Executive Council, arranged in a con- 
tinuity of dates; and which correspond with the Journal. The 
Epistles of the Friends written to their members, advising them 
to keep out of all warlike measures, are added, in order to com- 
prise all the charges which w r ere alleged against the Society ; and 
there is added to the Introduction, an account of the visits which 



VI ADVERTISEMENT. 

a committee of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, made in Octo- 
ber, 1777, to General Howe, at his headquarters, near German- 
town, and to General Washington, at the American camp, at 
Valley Forge, to explain the principles which governed the 
Society, in relation to the contending parties. 

At this time, so far removed from the reminiscences of the 
Revolution, many of the events here stated may be passing 
into oblivion, though they had been but partially understood — 
they relate to the last connexion of the Society of Friends with 
the government of Pennsylvania, another dynasty having come 
into power at the Revolution. 

Several members of the Society had held prominent posi- 
tions in the colonial government, the management of it being 
principally entrusted to them by the Proprietary during his 
absence in England. His stay in the Province at his two visits 
occupied less than five years ; and it has always been admitted 
that the judicious and liberal conduct of the Friends gave a 
peculiar and estimable character to the government, in regard 
to its colonial and municipal regulations. 

In relation to the question of politics as an international con- 
cern, the Friends had never taken an active part ; for this was 
never referred to them. The colony had originated from 
England, with the advantage of being settled from a country 
which had made the greatest advancements towards religious 
and republican reformation ; and when the differences between 
America and England took place, the Friends, in common 
with many others, believed for a long time that England would 
have been wise enough to redress the grievances of the 
colonists, and to preserve their affection and allegiance. 

There may be some peculiarity in the style of the Journal, 
and in the occurrences it refers to, many of them being per- 
sonal ; but it was written in the friendly and familiar style to 
which the party was accustomed, in order to preserve such 
daily incidents as would be interesting to their connexions at 
home; and was not intended for publication. 



ADVERTISEMENT. Vll 

These took place during a painful separation of the Exiles 
from their families, who had to remain in Philadelphia, then in 
possession of the British forces, and closely besieged by the 
Americans, with a view to distress it till it surrendered. At 
more than one time the city was threatened with conflagration 
and abandonment, by the British ; and as these Friends were 
conscious of very severe and unworthy treatment, at such a 
time of anxiety and distress, the Journal is expressive of as 
little feeling as might have been expected. 

The exiled Friends, with their cotemporaries, have been 
some years since removed by death. Yet their banishment 
continues to be adverted to in several publications tending to 
palliate its oppressive character, even at the expense of the 
character of the sufferers. It is therefore thought proper to 
print a few copies of the Journal, in order to correct this im- 
pression, and to preserve the details of the transaction, with 
evidences to support them, for the information of persons con- 
cerned in the events of that interesting time. 

Perhaps the most memorable reference which will be made 
in future years to the Society of Friends, will be the part they 
have acted in relation to the Colony of Pennsylvania, which is 
an essential part of their history. It shows the views they 
had of the administration of a government, not to have been 
speculative, but practical ; and while it has not been intended 
to make the notice of this event intrusive, the account of it is 
due to future history, and to the memory of a worthy and 
exemplary ancestry. 

The settlement of Pennsylvania, under William Penn, pre- 
sented a character of sincerity, tolerance, and mild govern- 
ment, with a deference to the religious and political feelings of 
others, not. before known on the Continent ; this, with his ex- 
emplary life, and that of his companions, established a sim- 
plicity of manners which has left an impress upon general 
society, tending to raise it on a basis of merit, and not of 
rank. 

When a comparative view is taken of the practical course 



Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. 

established here, both in government and in the institutions of 
the country, it would appear just to infer that the republican 
measures which are now requiring the governments abroad to 
take into just consideration their duties to the people, have de- 
rived much of their force from the example of the last two 
centuries of their establishment in America. 

In several histories of the American Revolutionary War, the 
writers have been led from ignorance or inattention, to con- 
clude that the Society of Friends opposed the interests of the 
country by uniting with the partisans of England. 

What kind of partisans could be made of a people who 
withdrew altogether from the civil government whenever its 
measures had a warlike tendency 1 — Who never allied them- 
selves to any political party, and when exercising the duties of 
government, never extended them beyond the requisitions of 
municipal order ! — Who restrained their members within the 
peaceable spirit of Christianity, as a condition of being con- 
tinued members of their church ! — And who had always been 
willing to live under any system of government where the 
rights of the people were respected ! 

This question has yet to be answered by some future writer, 
who will advert to the facts, and give a history of the Society 
of Friends during the Revolutionary War, and of the principles 
which governed them ; for that Society has chosen to be silent 
where justice due to themselves might be the means of casting 
censure upon others. 

But the banishment of their members has carried an imputa- 
tion against them into general history ; — for in the much-ap- 
plauded conduct accompanying the Revolution, it has been 
inferred, that such an act would not have been committed with- 
out cause. 

It is therefore due to the Friends, and to the position they 
held in general society, to present a correct statement of the 
transaction, supported by testimony to place it in a just point 
of view, and to correct the erroneous impressions which have 
so long existed in the public mind, and been circulated in the 
annals of our country. 



ADVERTISEMENT. IX 

The reader who may feel interested in the further views of 
William Penn, may be informed that he had designed to pass 
the remainder of his days in Pennsylvania, but the attention to 
his affairs recalled him to England, where he ended his useful- 
ness and his life. 

One of the last acts of William Pennon leaving the country 
for England, was to grant a charter to the public school in 
Philadelphia, in order to secure good school instruction equally 
and alike to all the children of the community. On the seal of this 
institution he placed the motto : " good instruction is better 
than riches;" with the impressive adage: " $»Xsts AXXrjXoug ;" 
" love ye one another." The motto on the seal he had derived, 
from his ancestors, and which he continued to the Province, 

Was " MERCY . JUSTICE." 

In his family memoirs he directed that his children should 
be brought up in the practical knowledge of trades; so that 
they should not only respect the useful occupations of persons 
who were dependent upon them, but have them to resort to, in 
the vicissitudes of life. 

William Penn left the Province for England on the 1st day 
of November, 1701, and his departure became final, — for the 
state of his affairs did not permit him to return to it. He died at 
his house at Ruscomb, Berkshire, on the 30th of the 5th month, 
1718, being then a member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends 
at Reading. 

He had been distinguished in religious and civil life as a 
Christian — a philosopher — and a gentleman, — and this occasion 
seems to call for an insertion of the obituary memorial re- 
corded concerning him ; taken from minutes of the Monthly 
Meeting of Friends at Reading, — which, if it were ever pub- 
lished, is not now to be obtained. 

Thomas Gilpin. 

Philadelphia, September 10th, 1848. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



A TESTIMONY CONCERNING WILLIAM PENN. 

From the Monthly Meeting for Berkshire, England, held at Reading, 
31st of the 1st month, 1719. 

Our Friend William Perm departed this life at his home at 
Ruscomb, in the County of Berks, on the 30th of the fifth 
month, 1718, and his body was conveyed thence the 7th of the 
sixth month following, to the Friends Burying Ground at Jor- 
den's, in Buckinghamshire, where he was honourably interred, 
being accompanied by many Friends, and others from distant 
parts. 

Being a member of our Monthly Meeting at the time of his 
decease, and for some years before, we can do no less, in giving 
the foregoing account, than say something of the character of so 
worthy a man ; and not only refer to other meetings where his 
residence was in former times, who are witnesses of the great 
self-denial he underwent in the prime of his youth, and the 
patience with which he bore many a heavy cross ; but think it 
our duty to cast in our mite to set forth in part his deserved 
commendation. 

He was a man of great abilities, of an excellent sweetness of 
disposition ; quick of thought and of ready utterance ; full of 
the qualifications of true discipleship, even love without dissi- 
mulation ; as extensive in charity as comprehensive in know- 
ledge, and to whom malice and ingratitude were utter stran- 
gers — ready to forgive enemies, and the ungrateful were not 
excepted. 

Had not the management of his temporal affairs been attended 
with some deficiencies, envy itself would be to seek for matter of 
accusation, and judging in charity, even that part of his conduct 
may be*attributed to a peculiar sublimity of mind. 

Notwithstanding which, he may without straining his cha- 
racter, be ranked among the learned — good — and great ; whose 



ADVERTISEMENT. XI 

abilities are sufficiently manifested throughout his elaborate 
writings, which are so many lasting monuments of his admired 
qualifications, and are the esteem of learned and judicious men 
among all persuasions. 

And although in old age, by reason of some shocks of a vio- 
lent disease, his intellect was much impaired, yet his sweet- 
ness and loving disposition surmounted its utmost efforts, and 
remained when reason almost failed. 

In fine, he was learned without vanity — apt without forward- 
ness — facetious in conversation, yet weighty and serious — of 
an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet void of the stain of 
ambition — as free from rigid gravity as he was clear of un- 
seemly levity — a man — a scholar — a friend — a minister, sur- 
passing in speculative endowments, whose memorial will be 
valued by the wise, and blessed with the just. 

Signed, on behalf and on appointment of said meeting. 

William Lambole, 

Clerk. 

Taken from the Reading Records, 3d month 7, 1813. 



CONTENTS. 



Advertisement, v 

William Perm — Obituary Memorial, . 30, 5 mo. 1718, . x 

Introduction, 17 

Narrative respecting the Exiles, 35 

Reflections on the Conduct of Friends, 46 

Visit of the Com. of Yearly Meeting to Gene- 
ral Howe and General Washington, . 7th October, 1777, 57 

General Sullivan's Letter to Congress with the 

Spurious Spanktown Memorial, . 25th Aug. 1777, 61 

General Washington's Letters (fac simile,) 3d and 6th April, 1777, 64 



Journal of the Exiles, 



Arrest of Friends at Philadelphia, . . 3d Sept. 1777, 

Order of Council of Pennsylvania, . . 31st Aug. 

Remonstrance to Council, of J. Pemberton, 4th Sept. 

" to Council, of the Friends, A " 

" to Congress, " " 5th " 

Friends required to take the Test, . " " 

Address to the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, " " 

Remonstrance to Council, . . . 8th " 

Resolve of Council to banish the Friends, 9th " 
Protest against Banishment, 



a 





65 




65 


71 


,88 


74 


,92 


77 


,95 


82, 


103 


85, 


106 




86 




107 


111, 


123 


113, 


125 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Remonstrance to Council by one hundred and 

two Citizens of Philadelphia, . . 5th 9 mo. 115 

Friends removed from Philadelphia, . 11th Sept. 133 

Journey to Virginia, 11th Sept. 1777, 133 

Habeas Corpus Writs taken out and served, 14th " " 135 

Act passed to Suspend Habeas Corpus Trials, 16th " " 137 
M. Fisher's Letter to Thomas M'Kean, Chief 

Justice, . . . . . . 18th " " 141 

Council of Pennsylvania, orders to Officers to 

take Exiles to Winchester, . . 10th " " 145 

Protest of Friends going out of Pennsylvania, 27th " " 156 

Residence at Winchester, .... 30th " " 158 

Confined at P. Bush's tavern, under guard, u " " 160 

Ordered by Congress to remain at Winchester, 17th " " 161 

Lieut. John Smith, letter to Congress, . 1st Oct. " 162 

Address of Exiles to Congress, . . " " " 164 
Address of Exiles to Governor and Council 

of Virginia, ",," " 167 

Board ofWar approve conduct of Lieut. Smith, 16th Oct. " 176 
Board of War allow the Exiles to have things 

they require, at their own expense, . " " u 177 
Governor and Council of Virginia, Letter to 
Joseph Holmes, allowing Prisoners per- 
mission of the town, . . . 15th " " 178 
P. Bush requires payment in silver money at 

the same rate as continental money, . . . • 182 

Board of War order removal to Staunton, 10th Dec. " 185 

Memorial of Exiles to Congress and Council, 19th " 188 

Alexander White sent by Exiles to Congress, 20th " " 194 



CONTENTS. XV 

End of Journal kept by the Exiles, . 31st Dec. 1777. 197 

James Pemberton's Journal of the Exiles, 1st Jan. 1778. 197 
Col. Kennedy directed by Gov. of Virginia to 

take the Exiles to Staunton, . . 11th " " 199 

Lieut. J. Holmes' Letter to M. Fisher, . 17th " " 201 
Gen. H. Gates' Letter to suspend removal of 

Prisoners to Staunton, . . . 21st " " 204 

Thomas Gilpin — Illness and Decease, . 2d March, " 210 

John Hunt— Illness and Decease, . . 31st " " 215 
Congress' order to Council of Pennsylvania 

to release the Exiles, . . . 16th " " 216 
Council sent F. Baily and Capt. Lang as an 

escort to the Exiles to Pennsylvania, 3d April, " 218 
Four Female Relatives of the Exiles wait on 

General Washington, ... 5th " " 222 
Gen. Washington's Letters to Gov. Wharton, 5th and 6th Apr. 1778, 223 

Act to prevent intercourse with Philadelphia, 225 

Return Journey to Philadelphia. 
Leave Winchester, . 

Visit to Gen. Gates at Yorktown, 
Denied a hearing by Council at Lancaster, 26th 
Address to Council to be restored to their rights, 
Order to Discharge the Exiles, 
General Washington's permission to return to 

their homes in Philadelphia, . . 29th " " 233 

Conclusion — Observations, 234 

Address of Society of Friends to Gen. Wash- 
ington on the year of the organization 
of the Government, . . . . 3d of 10 mo. 1789, 237 



19th April, 


1778, 


226 


24th " 


a 


227 


26th " 


a 


229 


a a 


tt 


230 


27th " 


a 


231 



XVI CONTENTS. 

Answer of General Washington, . . 3d Oct. 1789, 238 

Considerations on Charges of Congress, " " " 239 



Appendix — Journals of Congress and of the 
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsyl- 
vania, . . 25th Aug. 1777 to 27th April, 1778, 259—282 
Papers published by order of Congress, " u " 282 

Testimony of Society of Friends, . 24th 1 mo. 1775, 282 



5th " 1775, 284 



20th " 1776, 287 

" 12 mo. " 293 



Epistle of Meeting of Sufferings, . 

Ancient Testimony of Friends, 

Address of Meeting of SurTerings, 

Minutes of Quarterly and Monthly Meetings, 1776 and 1777, 293-— 299 

Spanktown Yearly Meeting, (spurious,) .... 290 

Comparative Addresses of Congress and of 

the Society of Friends, . . . 1775, 300 

Extract from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of 

the Roman Empire, 301 



INTRODUCTION 



Many of the important events of American history have been 
carefully handed down to us by notes or tradition ; and when 
these have a public or private estimation, it is a tribute due to 
posterity to render the narrative permanent before a further 
lapse of time may subject it to uncertainty. 

The intention of this volume is to preserve an account of 
some interesting incidents which occurred in Pennsylvania in 
the war of the American Revolution, for the use of the de- 
scendants of those persons who were unexpectedly involved in 
them. They arose out of that great event, and will show that 
the principles of justice and liberty then advocated for the na- 
tion, should have been more consistently dispensed to the rights 
which were due to individuals. 



The Settlement of the Province of Pennsylvania, by William 
Penn, formed a new era in the liberties of mankind. 

It opened an asylum in which to originate a new govern- 
ment upon the principles of " Mercy and Justice," contem- 
plated from previous ages to form the basis of the social and 
natural relations. 

It afforded a resting-place, where the conscientious and op- 
pressed people of Europe might repose, and enjoy the rights 
of civil and religious freedom which mankind had derived as 
an inheritance from the Creator. 

The benevolent founder of the Colony declared these to be 
his first objects in making the settlement, and he secured them 
to the people as their chartered privileges. 

2 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

In one of his letters to a friend in England, immediately 
after having obtained his Charter of the Province in 1681, he 
wrote : " I have obtained the Province and desire to keep it, 
which may answer the kind providence of God to serve his 
truth and people, that an example may be set to the nations : 
there may be room there, though not here, for such a holy 
experiment."* 

The first settlement of the Colony was personally attended 
to by William Penn, in 1682, and he established it in peace. 
It was hoped that under the blessing of Providence, the set- 
tlers there could carry out the principles of the Christian re- 
ligion — they believed these principles to be of the highest benefit 
to mankind, and that they were capable of sustaining them in 
a practical course of conduct to each other in public and in 
private life. 

The soil of Pennsylvania was thus granted to William Penn, 
and the Colonial Government entrusted to him, under his well- 
known principles as a member of the Society of Friends ; and 
as this Society has had an interesting connexion and influence 
in the country from its early history, it is proper to trace out 
its origin and character. 

" The Religious Society of Friends," which title it is proper 
to give it in consideration of their peaceable and friendly con- 
duct, in lieu of the sobriquet of " Quakers" arose in England 
about the year 1645; and on their principles becoming known, 
they were joined by a large number of people from various 
sects, who were dissatisfied with many of the religious profes- 
sions of the time, and were prepared to withdraw from them ; 
for they did. not appear to support by example or precept the 
doctrines of Christ or the Apostles, as set forth in the New 
Testament. 

The enlarged and independent views taken by the Friends, 
led them to contemplate the nature of the Christian religion, 
and with it the simplicity and virtue of the primitive churches ; 

* Proud's History of Pennsylvania, vol. i. 169, notes. 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

to compare this with the ecclesiastical authority assumed by 
subsequent churches over the civil and religious rights of the 
people, and to examine into a system which had such an im- 
mediate relation to themselves, and to general society. 

At an early period the advice and care of the Apostles were 
extended to direct the churches to the purity in which they 
were established, and to avoid the general errors of the times ; 
but deviations took place afterwards, arising from an external 
intercourse, and from various causes. 

The Christians having had no place as a distinct people, ex- 
isted as a religious sect dispersed among the nations. It is only 
recorded "the Disciples were called Christians first in An- 
tioch."* For the first two or three centuries, no other histori- 
cal accounts can be obtained of them, than from the lives of 
those Fathers who succeeded the immediate Apostles, and 
these show a uniform spirit of meekness and fidelity consistent 
with their original principles. 

During the first and second centuries, the Christians would 
not render to the state any military service, though many at- 
tempts were made to engage them in it ; they were uniform in 
the refusal by the declaration, " I am a Christian, and cannot 
fight" which produced a further separation from the people, 
and it was a further cause of the frequent martyrdoms they 
suffered. 

Although they remained a distinct sect, and were sought out 
and persecuted even as objects for sacrifice, the Christians 
became numerous, so that after the third century, Constantine 
and the succeeding emperors granted them protection, in order 
to secure their assistance and support 

Becoming more and more allied to the Roman interest, and 
mixed with the people, they had so deviated from their original 
principles as to be extensively employed as soldiers. By their 
movement with the armies, their religion was greatly extended 
through the empire and provinces, in which they contributed 
mainly to support the declining state ; whence a union took 

* Acts ii. 26. 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

place between civil and religious power, partly military and 
partly hierarchal, yet with such an introduction of heathen 
customs and warlike requisitions, as very much to destroy the 
Christian character. 

Yet under this external relation of the church, a clergy was 
established which governed it in matters of opinion and faith ; 
and when there were any disputed points of orthodoxy, the 
bishops, with the other clergy, called councils to settle them, 
under a united authority of the churches. 

Six of these, called General Councils, were held from the years 
325 to 680, besides numerous others of lesser importance. But 
in few or none of these assemblages were any satisfactory con- 
clusions to be arrived at. Under the profession of religion, a 
contention for points of doctrine resulted in contentions for 
supremacy ; and the decisions of the conventions being only 
suited to the parties in power, increased the schisms of the 
churches. 

The bishops of Rome having been seated at the most cele- 
brated place in the empire, began early to claim the exclusive 
title of Pope, and about the year 655, it w r as acceded to by the 
other bishops, though it had been previously the title of them 
all ; from thence it remained in the see of Rome, undisputed 
in Christendom for the nine succeeding centuries. 

During this long period the ecclesiastical annals give an 
account of the most arbitrary extension of the Roman papal 
power over all the Christian churches and kingdoms, and over 
the liberties and consciences of the people, until it was broken 
into in the sixteenth century, and partly divided among other 
sects at the Protestant reformation. 

But this division eventually proved to be rather a change of 
condition than a reform in the churches, for those which suc- 
ceeded had no precedents or ideas beyond an alteration or a 
modification of the general system of hierarchy, and a dispen- 
sation from some of the more formal and imposing ceremonies. 
They set up a new establishment of clergy, with expensive 
endowments, under an appropriation of the benefices derived 
from papal revenues, and even perverted to its service many 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

of the previous endowments of the Catholic charitable institu- 
tions. No latitude of opinion or faith was allowed beyond the 
articles of the newly prescribed creed. An imputation of 
heresy rested upon those who might conscientiously think for 
themselves; and as the churches formed again alliances with 
the governments, no relief could be obtained for the people 
from the further exactions and arbitrary control of the clergy. 

This re-established connexion of church and state was un- 
satisfactory to the judgment and feeling of a sensible laity, and 
there were many independent persons, who not choosing to 
submit to such intellectual and moral servitude, turned their 
minds to the simple doctrines and injunctions of the Christian 
religion, which they believed to be addressed to the attention 
of every one; they were not satisfied with the prescribed forms 
adopted by the established churches, nor with any vicarious 
substitutes for the obligations of Christian duty; but they 
turned at once to the Christian example and precepts, to con- 
form to whatever they deemed them to require, and to reject 
whatever they prohibited, — and thus unswayed by fear or 
favour, to be accountable only to the responsibilities they en- 
joined. 

Among these, the most steady and patient, but efficient 
denial of the claims of the clergy w 7 as made by the Friends, — 
who appeared at a later period than most of the others, to be 
dissentients from the established church ; and who on their rise 
into a society, would not admit that the clergy had any right 
whatever, according to Christian discipline, to the positions 
they had assumed, and to the control which had been in- 
cautiously granted them. In addition to this, the clergy had 
become imperious and unfeeling, supporting their power by 
ecclesiastical law r s and authority, living very expensively upon 
tithes and requisitions, exacted from the people under very 
severe oppression. 

This independent conduct became alarming to the Protestant 
hierarchies of England, and caused «the Friends there to suffer 
severe contumely and persecution under the clerical power, 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

and under the influence it had created with the government. 
Their members, for want of conformity, had to suffer long im- 
prisonments, loss of their property, distress of their families, 
and loss of life, which was continued until their persecutors 
were checked by public sympathy, for the infliction of con- 
tinued injustice upon an innocent and conscientious people. 

In return for this course of oppression, the Friends formed 
no parties — they resisted no one — they returned no injury upon 
any one ; and while they considered their own mode of life 
would be injurious to no government, and offensive to no society 
instituted for the peaceable enjoyment of religion or the protec- 
tion of the community, they persevered in living and conduct- 
ing themselves according to their own mode of worship, and 
their own convictions of duty. 

During this time, this people was not chargeable with being 
useless or inadequate members of society : in their various oc- 
cupations they were industrious, were true to their promises 
and engagements, and contributed like others to the support of 
government. 

In social kindness and sympathy, and in the requisitions of 
private and public duty they were distinguished, and they were 
prominent in institutions of high character for intelligence, use- 
fulness, and benevolence. 

At the same time that they kept out of all political parties or 
religious conventions, they made every respectful appeal to the 
government to be relieved from the unjust sufferings they had 
to endure. Further than this they could not go. For they 
never joined in measures for supplanting or overturning the 
constituted authorities, because this could not be done without 
violating their peaceable principles — " to live in peace with all 
men." 

They respected the powers of the government and a system 
of just laws as the guide of human action, and for the order 
and support of the structure of society. 

Confiding in the benevolence of the Christian religion as 
capable of influencing the human heart, they believed it to be 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

sufficient to remedy the evils and to correct the errors of the 
age ; they believed, also, that if this had been the faithful ob- 
ject of the church, it would, long before their day, have brought 
the people under better discipline than could be attained by the 
civil government, with its code of voluminous and intricate 
laws. 

As a contrast to the pompous establishments of the church 
and the state, with hierarchies, armies, and clerical parade, and 
after centuries of ecclesiastical controversies, how extraordi- 
nary was the rise and existence of a people disclaiming any 
connexion with the wars of the state or with the dissensions of 
the churches, and determining to govern themselves by a line of 
truthful conduct — to be guided by good-will to all mankind 
according to the plain dictates of truth and the philosophy of 
the Christian religion. 

It was said of this Society by Oliver Cromwell, " Now I see 
there has arisen a people which I cannot win with gifts, 
honours, offices, or places, but all other sects and people I 
can."* And Admiral Penn said, among his last words to his 
son William Penn, soon after to become proprietary of Penn- 
sylvania, whom in his early life he had banished from his house 
for having joined the Society of Friends, " Son William, 
if you and your Friends keep to your plain way of living, and 
to your plain way of preaching, you will make an end of the 
priests, to the end of the world."-)- 

Believing they had Christian authority for their existence as 
a religious society, the Friends established their church system 
independently of all civil assistance, with but few rules : these 
were of a practical character in conformity with the prescrip- 
tions of the New Testament. 

They had no specific articles for their religion, written out 
to be adopted as required by other churches ; but an account 
of their belief was set forth by many experienced writers, and 
approved of by the Society. 

* Marsh's popular Life of George Fox, p. 12. 
t Sparks's Life of William Penn, 1845, p. 253. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

They relied upon the guidance of an inward principle of 
divine truth in the mind. 

They abrogated among themselves all regard to the esta- 
blished clerical power, which they believed to be the assump- 
tion of a latter age, and that there was no authority for it in the 
permission of Christ, or in the practice of the Apostles ; and 
they would render no military service, because they believed 
every act of warfare to be an abrogation of the principles of 
Christianity. 

They disconnected themselves with the civil power, and 
advised their members to decline appointments to civil offices, 
because in the required duties they might not be able to give 
satisfaction consistently with their principles. 

Their members were recommended to practise economy, 
and to encourage simplicity in their domestic relations, in order 
to avoid inducements to luxury and show. 

They took care of their indigent members, to place them in 
a way to obtain a maintenance ; but when their poor became 
aged or disabled, and could not support themselves, they were 
privately assisted out of the funds of the Society. In addition 
to this, in common with other citizens, their members supported 
the public poor. 

They mostly settled disputes arising between their members 
by an arbitrament of persons specially appointed among them- 
selves, without an appeal to law, unless when it became expe- 
dient to obtain legal decisions, and their members were required 
by the Society to do justice to others. 

The institution of marriage was performed by a public de- 
claration of the parties during the sitting of their friends at a 
religious meeting. They were not allowed the interference of 
any clerical authority. The witnesses were their common friends, 
and a certificate of the marriage, signed by themselves and the 
witnesses, was placed on the records of the Society. 

The Friends did not conform to outward ceremonies in the 
Christian religion, because in the devotion of mind and conduct 
which it enjoined, these appeared to them to be the lesser types 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

or services; and they found that when they had been made 
commemorative and periodical, and performed by any church 
officer, it led to an external and vicarious dependence, from 
which followed superstitious ceremonies, differing widely from 
the character of the original institution. 

In their private meetings, which were for discipline, nothing 
was introduced but the business of the church ; and except that 
this had occasionally some relation to personal concerns, the 
meetings might have been open to every one. The business re- 
lated to the general condition or economy of the church, ad- 
vice to its members, its finances and charities, and often to 
such sympathies as the Friends might be interested in, for the 
benefit of others. 

No person presided at those meetings, for general respect 
preserved order ; any person was allowed to speak on the sub- 
jects under consideration when offered to the meeting by any 
of the members or produced by the clerk ; and when the meet- 
ing, after a general expression of sentiment, came to a conclu- 
sion, the clerk recorded it. 

No question was ever taken or decided by a vote, to ascer- 
tain a majority; for the dignity of the meeting did not permit it. 
Arguments on subjects under consideration were openly offered 
and reference made to the general principles of the Society to 
sustain them ; but as the truth would lead to but one conclusion, 
it was the purpose of the meeting calmly to discover it, and a 
minority having a clear view of a subject, often led to the 
good and final judgment of the meeting; at those times when 
the meeting could not arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, the 
subject was postponed for further reflection and unanimity. 

The Society acknowledged a ministry among themselves, to 
arise from impressions of religious duty on the part of ex- 
emplary and pious persons, who might preach in their public 
meetings for worship ; but these were to have no pay nor dis- 
tinction beyond their other members. 

Their houses for public worship were neat, and convenient, 
built without ornament, but made comfortable, and were open 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

to all persons who were inclined to attend them. The religious 
worship in their meetings was without any forms or ceremonies. 
It consisted in an effort of the mind to advert to their religious 
duties, under a belief that these would be made known by the 
Spirit of Truth to all persons, even when they might not be 
directed to them by a teacher or minister. 

Under the solemnity of a silent and sedate assembly, order 
was always preserved ; and as the Christian principles were 
obviously true, and necessary to be put in practice in the 
common walks of life, it was believed their relative injunctions 
would be the principal objects for religious contemplation. 

The houses to meet in were not regarded as places of 
sanctity ; for the Friends believed that it was the members of a 
Christian society who constituted a church, and that, as on the 
occasion of the " Sermon on the Mount," they might be as pro- 
perly assembled there, as in the Temple. 

The Friends could not give evidence on any occasion on 
the pledge of an Oath, not only because they believed it to be 
forbidden by the precepts of the New Testament, but because 
they claimed it to be the right of every freeman of unimpaired 
veracity, to have credence when he stated a fact to be true. 

This caused the Friends to suffer much in England from the 
want of legal testimony, for about fifty years ; but they were 
relieved from taking oaths in 1696, by a special act of Parlia- 
ment, and from thence a dispensation from taking oaths was 
introduced into most of the colonial governments of America, 
and into the Constitution of the United States. From the 
years 1828 to 1838, several acts were passed by Parliament to 
dispense with the use of oaths in England, in favour of con- 
scientious persons, who declined to take them ; and at the re- 
organization of the government now going on in France, 
pledges by oath are dispensed with in that nation. 

Schools or seminaries were established by the Friends to 
afford the most useful course of scholastic education, from the 
elementary or primary institutes to the highest branches of 
mathematics and of classical literature, with selections from 
the best Latin and Greek authors, and the use of the Hebrew 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

Bible. The pupils were taught under no prescriptive form of 
religious rules further than to secure a system of orderly and 
moral conduct. The schools were open for the admission of the 
children of all persons who approved of their course of useful 
and guarded education. 

Their burial-places were arranged to be without ornament, 
display, or expense, and to be used free of any charge. Burials 
were permitted of all persons who were professors with the 
Society, and of all other persons, free of charge, who had 
desired to be buried in their ground. 

In their native land and that of their forefathers, the religious 
Society of Friends had not been allowed these natural and in- 
offensive privileges. The power of the church, united with 
the power of the government, had controlled the rights of the 
people under laws and prejudices to such an extent, that when- 
ever there was a prospect of civil or religious liberty arising 
to restore the natural rights of mankind, it was suppressed 
under a pretence of its interference with the prescribed privi- 
leges of the clergy, or with some of the sectarian institutions 
having a temporary possession of power. 

In looking over " The Annals of the Christian Church," as 
collected by an Episcopalian minister,* and lately published, 
the historical incidents show that the Christian spirit of meek- 
ness and kindness had not been in unison with it since the 
early ages. 

It was scarcely free from the persecutions under the Roman 
government, when it became united with the civil power, and 
the records of that period give an account of the continued 
discords and internal dissensions which arose out of church 
pow r er and supremacy, with a detail of contentious councils, 
excommunications, crusades, heresies, massacres, and pro- 
tracted deliberations upon abstract and incomprehensible 
matters, inquisitions to test faith in absurd doctrines, and per- 
secutions and martyrdoms which were inflicted upon the most 
virtuous people, and upon those who made attempts to reform 

* See Ecclesiastical Chronology, by the Rev. J. E. Riddle, London, 1840. 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

the errors of the church, or to correct the conduct of the 
clergy. 

If the errors of those times were also those of the civil go- 
vernment during what was so generally called the " Dark 
Ages," that period was emphatically darkened under the do- 
minion of the officers of a church who claimed to be an edu- 
cated class or rank in society, and who suffered no light of 
instruction to come among the people. It had set up, and it 
had put down at will, kings and rulers in Christendom for many 
ages ; it annulled at will the allegiance of the people to the 
governments ; it controlled the circulation of the Scriptures and 
of printing ; it confined or dispensed all literature and know- 
ledge, as well as the tuition of the schools ; it took out of the 
courts of justice any cases of crime to which, through favour- 
itism, the clerical power chose to afford the celebrated " Benefit 
of Clergy," to transfer them to the ecclesiastical courts, and 
dispose of them as they should see proper ; and it threatened 
with the punishments of the Inquisition some of the most 
enlightened philosophers for revealing the works of God bene- 
volently handed through them to mankind. 

The power of the Christian Church to obtain the estates of 
the people, was beyond all similitude in the annals of any 
country. 

Under the specious pleas of charity or for spiritual service 
or intercession, more than one half the lands in England be- 
came diverted from its legal descent to the lawful heirs, by be- 
quests made to the clergy and to the churches ; and although 
the government passed successive statutes of mortmain during 
more than five hundred years to annul such legacies, the laws 
were fraudulently evaded by the devices of the clergy, and 
continued to be so, until the church power became weakened 
at the Protestant Revolution. 

It will not therefore appear strange that professors of the 
Christian religion desirous to live under it in its purity, should 
make their escape from such scenes of distrust and confusion ; 
for even when the Reformation had taken place in England, 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

and the Papal or Roman Catholic supremacy terminated, the 
Protestant part of the community was left unprepared to build 
up a system without its errors; this party had still its views of 
maintaining a civil and clerical power, and of obtaining the 
wealth of the church establishments: in consequence of which 
it divided into contending parties. 

Some of these people who emigrated and came to America, 
were of the highly religious professions. They escaped it is 
true from the control of the Protestant supremacy which had 
just succeeded to the Roman Catholic ; but their Exodus did 
not take place in that spirit of kindness to others which a com- 
mon suffering should have taught them : they did not extend 
a toleration of religion to their Christian brethren ; but instead 
of this, a spirit of religious domination accompanied them, par- 
ticularly into New England, and was engrafted into their laws 
and institutions. 

It is now proper to advert to the Colony of Pennsylvania, to 
see how far it was preserved from these evils by the peculiarity 
of its settlement; and it ought to be borne in mind that the So- 
ciety of Friends who settled that province, had dissented more 
materially than others from many of the civil as well as from 
the religious institutions in England, and therefore the support 
of their tenets was attended by peculiar difficulties. 

All the church establishments, and the military system, and 
their extended interests, were in direct opposition to the views 
of the Friends ; and as to the legal profession, their prudential 
conduct was a peaceful example against its controversies, ex- 
penses, and impositions. 

Having undergone many severe persecutions in England for 
their religious conduct for nearly half a century, the Friends 
were the last company who left there to settle in America. 
They availed themselves of the opportunity to emigrate under 
the auspices of their fellow-member William Penn, on his ob- 
taining, on the 4th of March, 1681, a grant of the Province of 
Pennsylvania from King Charles II., in order to make a peace- 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

ful settlement in the western world, and to get rid of their 
oppressions in their native land. 

They trusted with great reliance that the same principles as 
those of the Gospel would appear in the minds of the untutored 
Indians, who would become willing to participate in the offer- 
ing of a peaceful spirit. 

Trusting also to the integrity which guided their own con- 
duct, they firmly relied upon their Christian faith to sustain 
them in a wild and foreign country, unmolested by the unfeel- 
ing disposition manifested by the people at home, who under 
the profession of Christianity, had cast aside the cardinal prin- 
ciples of benevolence and justice. 

It was this people who convinced by their truthful conduct 
the natives of the country of the sincerity of their profession, 
and of the efficiency of their peaceful plan of settlement, and 
extended the toleration of religion to the members of all socie- 
ties. By their frame of government they granted as a char- 
tered right, liberty of conscience to all people who would settle 
in the Province ; and it was the only one which had been 
granted to mankind by any of the professors of Christianity. 

In the contemplation of this, and of the peaceful alliance be- 
tween the Friends and the Indian natives, Yoltaire has re- 
corded : " It was the only treaty made with the natives of the 
New World which was not ratified by an oath, and the only 
one which has not been broken." 

There are several authors who have made or extended the 
same remarks. In Arthur O'Leary's Essay on Toleration he 
says : " William Penn, the great legislator of the Quakers, 
had the success of a conqueror in establishing and defending 
his colony without ever drawing the sword ; the tenderness 
of an universal father, who opened his arms to all mankind, 
without distinction of sect or party ; and in his republic it was 
not the religious creed, but personal merit that entitled every 
member of society to the protection and emoluments of the 
state." 

The frame of government formed by the Proprietary for the 
inhabitants, was executed in England, 25th April, 1682. It was 



INTRODUCTION. 3 1 

in the nature of a mutual compact, and it was not to be altered 
without the consent of the Proprietary and of six-sevenths of 
the freemen of the Provincial Council and Assembly. It was 
in twenty-four articles and forty laws. The law on Religious 
Rights is as follows : 

" That all persons living in this Province, who confess and 
acknowledge the one almighty and eternal God to be the 
creator, upholder, and ruler of the world, and who hold them- 
selves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in 
civil society, shall in no wise be molested or prejudiced for 
their religious persuasion or practice in matters of faith or 
worship; nor shall they be compelled at any time to frequent 
or maintain any religious worship-place or ministry whatever."* 

The Abbe Raynal in his History of the Indies says : " Penn's 
humanity could not be extended to the savages only; it ex- 
tended to all who were desirous of living under his laws. Sen- 
sible that the happiness of a people depended upon the nature 
of the legislation, he founded his upon those true principles of 
private felicity — liberty and property." 

" The mind dwells with pleasure upon this part of modern 
history, and feels some kind of compensation for the disgust, 
horror, or melancholy, which the whole of it, but particularlv 
the account of the European settlements in America inspires."! 

Montesquieu, in the Spirit of Laws, has the following senti- 
ment on the government of Pennsylvania :J 

" A character so extraordinary in the institutions of Greece, 
has shown itself lately in the dregs and corruptions of modern 
times; a very honest legislator has formed a people to whom 
probity seems as natural as bravery to the Spartans. 

" Mr. Penn is a real Lycurgus, and, although the former 
made peace his principal aim, as the latter did war, yet, they 
resemble one another in the singular way of living to which 
they reduced their people, — in the ascendency they had over 
freemen, in the prejudices they overcame, and in the passions 
which they subdued." 

* See Proud's History of Pennsylvania, Appendix No. 2, page 19. 
t See Raynal, Book 18. % See 4th Book. 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

Of these rights to the natural gifts of Providence as far as 
they could be secured by the Proprietary to his fellow-beings, 
they were fully sensible. It gave them the first practical assu- 
rance — " That all men are created equal ; that they are en- 
dowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among 
which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

For the welcome reception which the natives of the country 
gave to the emigrants they deserved the kindness which was 
shown them, and they were sensible of this when they re- 
ceived it. 

In consequence of the quarrelsome conduct of the colonists 
on the north and on the south of Pennsylvania, the fiercest 
wars with the natives had ensued ; but in this Province they 
joined in with the peaceful spirit that prevailed, and became 
kind and friendly, — so that love and respect without fear 
governed their relation to each other. 

In the agreements made between the natives and the govern- 
ment or settlers, there were considerations of mutual benefit. 

The natives granted amicably the liberty of settlement, oc- 
cupation of the soil and residence, and these afforded a mutual 
accommodation of their interests, tending to an increase of their 
happiness. 

The settlers introduced among the natives improvements in 
the adaptation of the country for agriculture, and social life, 
then commencing in the western world, and soon to come 
among them. 

" The publication of this settlement and of the frame of 
government, spread through Europe, and added to the celebrity 
and filling up of this colony from many of the kingdoms and 
states, surcharged with oppressed inhabitants, under the feudal 
system."* And under such an equitable arrangement for 
mutual benefit, as long as the affairs of the colony were under 
the control of the Friends, for about seventy years, there were 
no differences with the Indians, for they were satisfied that 
their rights and interests were respected equally with the rights 
of any other people in the Province. 

* See Miers Fisher's Notes. 



INTRODUCTION. 



But when the European Seven Years' War broke out between 
France and England, which existed from 1756 to 1763, and 
was carried on in America by the English for the conquest of 
Canada, the Indians on the frontier became influenced by the 
French into hostile measures, and as auxiliaries they invaded 
Western Pennsylvania, and fought the battle near Pittsburg, at 
the defeat of General Braddock, on the 9th of July, 1755. 

This was the first instance of hostile conduct on the part of 
the Indians, and in Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, p. 325, he 
writes, " The Indians remained very inimical for some time, 
till the return of the Shawnese and Delawares to a pacific 
disposition. This was greatly promoted by the conduct of the 
principal Quakers. Israel Pemberton and several others had 
invited some friendly Indians to their tables, and awakened 
their earnest wishes for peace. This conference was held by 
permission of the governor (Robert Hunter Morris). But by 
the advice of his council, the subject was left entirely to the 
management of the Friends." 

The Colony of Pennsylvania had thus continued to realize 
the best expectations which could have been formed for it. 
The inhabitants, guided by good examples, were industrious ; 
the land productive, the laws equal, religious rights were 
enjoyed by all, and a representative government in the hands 
of the people. 

The foreign or international concerns of the country were 
in the hands of the British government, and but little influenced 
the administration of the Colony. By the treaty of 1763, 
made with France, that nation ceded to the English all the 
Canada country, in favour of their retaining which, at the 
peace, Doctor Franklin took a very active and efficient interest, 
and addressed to the ministry his celebrated Canada pamphlet. 
This country became thus united to the English colonies, and 
the toleration of religion was not only introduced there, but ex- 
tended through the valley of the Mississippi, and was eventually 
secured through all western North America. 

3 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

The Society of Friends had never engaged in any national 
controversies of religion or politics, for their views of the injunc- 
tions of the Christian religion, and of its conservative character, 
were paramount to every other consideration. They had a 
belief that the dispensation of this religion was sufficiently 
opened to mankind to be of practical application, so that when 
differences occurred, they could and ought to be settled upon 
the catholic principles it enjoined. 

When, therefore, after the British nation had become the 
unrivalled possessors of nearly all the continent of North 
America, and the measures of that government tended to pass 
laws restrictive upon the colonies, which created differences 
proceeding to retaliation and independent rule, a state of 
difficulty ensued, requiring the Society of Friends to sustain its 
peaceable principles by an injunction upon its members to with- 
draw from all warlike measures. 

It ought not to be considered unreasonable that the Friends, 
after having under their own peaceful laws and discipline pro- 
vided for all the exigencies of the state, both " for the savage and 
the sage," should have declined to take any part in a contest 
among their own brethren, waging a warfare to an extent they 
could not estimate, and certainly not control. 

And was it just or reasonable that the Friends, who had 
established and conducted the government for nearly a century 
under the principles of peace, should on a change of power in 
the province, be -proscribed and treated as aliens and enemies 
to their country, because they could not join in hostile measures 
when these were expedient only according to the judgment of 
others 1 And would it not have been consistent with the rights 
of mankind, so well known as the purpose of the Revolution, 
that the motives and conduct of the Friends should have been 
clearly ascertained, that as a conscientious people they should 
have been accordingly protected, and allowed to remain quietly 
at their homes, without molestation ? 

Just as these considerations are claimed to be, the follow- 
ing narrative will show what little regard was paid to the 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

Friends in Philadelphia, for their considerate and equitable 
conduct to others ! ! 

During the second year of the war of the American Revo- 
lution, the English army was brought round by sea from New 
York into Chesapeake Bay ; they were landed near the head of 
the bay on the 22d of August, and after the battle of Brandy- 
wine on the 11th of September, 1777, they passed through the 
State of Pennsylvania, to take possession of the city of 
Philadelphia. 

The House of Congress was then in session at Philadelphia, 
— the Legislature of Pennsylvania, — and the Supreme Executive 
Council, consisting of twelve members with its president, esta- 
blished by the State Constitution of 28th September, 1776, — and 
there also sat the Committee of Safety, which held its private 
assemblages as an acting committee, whose doings and minutes 
were assumed by the Supreme Executive Council. 

Congress, by a resolve of 25th August, 1777, recommended 
as follows : " That the executive officers of the states of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, be requested to cause all persons, 
within the respective States, notoriously disaffected, forthwith 
to be disarmed and secured, until such time as they may be 
released without injury to the common cause. 

" That it be recommended to the Supreme Executive Council 
of the State of Pennsylvania, to cause diligent search to be 
made in the houses of all the inhabitants of the city of Phila- 
delphia, who have not manifested their attachment to the 
American cause, for firearms, swords, bayonets, &c." 

These resolutions, from their construction, could scarcely 
have been intended for the Society of Friends. 

But under the general recommendation of these resolutions, 
the Supreme Executive Council considered it within their license 
to arrest several of the most respectable inhabitants of Philadel- 
phia, chiefly of the Society of Friends, to represent them to be 
amenable to the charges contained in it, and because they would 
not consent to be subjected to such a deprivation of their liberty 
as was unworthy of respectable citizens, and men of unim- 



36 



INTRODUCTION. 



peachable character, and as they would not assent to join in 
with the measures of the Revolution, the Council declared the 
Friends to be notoriously disaffected to the cause of American 
freedom. Their case was then reported to a Congress unac- 
quainted with their principles, and with their personal character. 

Nearly at the same time, as appears on the minutes of Con- 
gress of 28th August, 1777, there had been transmitted to it a 
letter from General Sullivan, dated at Hanover, near Newark, 
New Jersey, on the 25th August, enclosing a paper said to have 
been found among baggage taken at Staten Island. 

This paper professed to contain information from a yearly 
meeting of Friends, said to be held on the 19th of August, at 
Spanktown, a place scarcely known even as an inferior part of 
Rahway, which was a remote town on the east side of New 
Jersey. 

Owing to the ignorance of Congress respecting the Society 
of Friends, this production became thus imposed upon them. 
It stated under its date of 25th August, that General Howe 
had landed at the head of Chesapeake Bay, and it contained 
various desultory information of a very inconsistent character, 
which Congress, under date of 3 1st August, directed to be 
published, — a copy of which is given in this volume, and it is 
yet to be found at the Philadelphia Library, in No. 2533 of the 
Pennsylvania Register, dated 10th September, 1777, and also 
in No. 304 of Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet, of Tuesday, 9th 
September, 1777. In both of these it is certified to be published 
by Order of Congress, by Charles Thomson, Secretary. 

By the charge of authorship of such a production upon the 
Society of Friends, it was intended still farther to injure their 
character in the estimation of Congress, to lead to an inference 
that their religious meetings were connected with political pur- 
poses, and to create prejudices against them among the people ; 
but a full exculpation of the Society from any shadow of its 
authorship is to be found in the contradictory statements of 
dates in the paper itself, as well as in its general tenor and 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

character ; and this is fully set forth in the course of the fol- 
lowing Journal and Memoirs. In these it will be seen — 

In the first place, that no meeting of the Society had ever 
been held at the designated place — selected as if in derision of 
the Society, " Spanktown" — the places of holding their yearly 
meetings being always at the most respectable towns or cities 
through the country, and advertised in the annual publications. 

In the second place, that the letter professed to contain in- 
formation from the eastern part of New Jersey, and to be 
brought by way of Staten Island under date of 19th August, 
respecting the landing of the British army at the head of the 
Chesapeake Bay, which did not take place till the 22d August. 
The intelligence of this, however, had reached Philadelphia 
on the 23d, and must have been known to Congress, because it 
is stated on their minutes on the 25th August, and thence there 
was issued the publication made by their order on the 31st 
August. 

It would appear almost useless to add to this statement any 
remarks respecting such a publication, and of the impropriety 
and unkindness of thus intending to injure the standing of a 
large and respectable portion of fellow-citizens in the opinion 
of an uninformed, and therefore undiscriminating public. But, 
if owing to a want of time or the agitating military movements 
in the country, the Supreme Executive Council, who were then 
appointed to be the guardians of the rights of the people, had 
not prevented the application made by the persons so charged 
to have a hearing in a court of justice, these misrepresentations 
w r ould have been made obvious ; the Friends would then have 
been placed in public estimation in that state of innocence and 
inoffensive character which their accusers were compelled to 
accede to them, after these attempts to criminate them and to 
debar them of their constitutional rights had failed. 

The persons arrested, to the number of twenty, form the 
subject of this volume, and were part of a larger list. They 
were taken into custody by military force at their homes or 
usual places of business ; many of them could not obtain any 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

knowledge of the cause of their arrest, or of any one to whom 
they were amenable, and they could only hope to avail them- 
selves of the intervention of some civil authority. 

The Executive Council being formed of residents of the 
City and County of Philadelphia, had a better knowledge of 
the Society of Friends, and of their individual characters, than 
the members of Congress, assembled from the various parts of 
the country, and ought to have protected them. But instead 
of this, they caused these arrests of their fellow-citizens to be 
made with unrelenting severity, and from the first to the fourth 
day of September, 1777, the party was taken into confinement 
in the Masons' Lodge in Philadelphia. 

On the minutes of Congress of 3d September, 1777, it ap- 
pears that a letter was received by them from George Bryan, 
Vice-President of the Supreme Executive Council, dated 2d 
September, stating that arrests had been made of persons ini- 
mical to the American States, and desiring the advice of Con- 
gress particularly whether Augusta and Winchester, in Vir- 
ginia, would not be proper places at which to secure the prisoners. 

Appalled by the cruelty of such a novel proposition, the per- 
sons arrested immediately represented the injustice of such 
treatment to the Supreme Executive Council and to Congress ; 
and their remonstrances were accompanied, under a very feel- 
ing consideration of their case, by an address to the President 
and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, signed by 
most of the other members of the Society in and near Phila- 
delphia — a copy of which is given in the Journal. In this me- 
morial they state " that these persons were denied the just and 
reasonable right of being heard, and since ordered to be re- 
moved to a distant part of Virginia : a proceeding which not 
only affects the persons immediately concerned, but is an 
alarming violation of the civil and religious rights of the com- 
munity, which we conceive no plea of necessity can justify." 

Congress must have been aware that it was becoming a case 
of very unjust suffering, for they passed their resolution of 6th 
September, 1777, as follows : 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

" That it be recommended to the Supreme Executive Council 
of the State of Pennsylvania, to hear what the said remon- 
strants can allege to remove the suspicions of their being dis- 
affected or dangerous to the United States." 

But the Supreme Executive Council on the same day refer- 
ring to the above, 

" Resolved, That the President do write to Congress to let 
them know that the Council has not time to attend to that busi- 
ness in the present alarming crisis, and that they were, agreea- 
bly to the recommendation of Congress, at the moment the 
Resolve was brought into Council, disposing of every thing for 
the departure of the prisoners," 

By reference to the preceding minutes of Congress, it ap- 
pears evident that the Supreme Executive Council had been 
directed only to arrest and secure persons adjudged to be no- 
toriously disaffected to the cause of America ; to take from 
them firearms, swords, bayonets, &c, and to obtain and secure 
political papers. And it further appears, that even after the 
Council had informed Congress of the arrests they had made, 
and proposed on the 2d day of September to send the parties 
to banishment into Virginia, that Congress recommended to 
the Council on the 6th September, to " hear what the remon- 
strants can allege in their defence." 

Had this been permitted, the persons arrested would have 
been found innocent of any notorious disaffection to the cause 
of America, or of having used any influence in regard to the 
existing contest. After their houses had been searched, there 
were found no instruments of offence or of defence even for 
personal security, much less firearms, swords, or bayonets, and 
although their desks were broken open in their absence, no 
papers of a political character could be found — because they 
never had corresponded with anyone relatively to the Revolution, 
or to controversial politics. 

The act of sending from their homes and families peaceable 
citizens against whom no imputation could be sustained; whose 
positions in business were permanent ; whose attention was in- 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

dispensable to the immediate necessities of their families ;_ and 
whose principles and conduct were a full security to the public 
peace, — was against the established assurances of society, and 
an act of violence and oppression. 

Thus arrested, they were conducted away without previous 
notice ; — without conference with their accusers ; — held in 
custody without specific allegation; — committed without a 
trial ; — to be punished without a hearing ; — and then to be 
banished for an indefinite time, without reference to any degree 
of supposed offence. 

The recommendations of Congress respecting the military 
precautions of the war were made general, but the executive 
authorities were charged with the just application of them. As 
the Supreme Executive Council had taken the responsibility of 
this, Congress considered the persons arrested to be prisoners 
of the State of Pennsylvania ; and as such subjected to the 
orders of the Supreme Executive Council, and the destination 
it had allotted them. 

As the recommendation of Congress of the 6th September, to 
give the prisoners a hearing, was refused by the Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council, the next minute made by Congress was as 
follows : 

" In Congress, 8 September, 1777. 

" Resolved, That it would be improper for Congress to enter 
into a hearing of the remonstrants or other prisoners in the 
Masons' Lodge, they being inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; and 
therefore, as the Council declines giving them a hearing for the 
reasons assigned in their letter to Congress, that it be recom- 
mended to said Council to order the immediate departure of 
such of the said prisoners as yet refuse to swear or affirm alle- 
giance to the State of Pennsylvania, to Staunton, in Virginia." 

The remonstrances made to Congress, and to the Supreme 
Executive Council, being unavailing, the parties arrested were 
ordered to depart for Virginia, on the 11th September, 1777, 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

when as their last resource they applied under the laws of 
Pennsylvania to be brought before the Judicial Court by writs 
of habeas corpus. 

The departure of the prisoners was committed to the care of 
Colonel Jacob Morgan of Bucks County, and they were guarded 
by six of the Light Horse, commanded by Alexander Nesbitt 
and Samuel Caldwell, who were to obey the despatches from 
the Board of War, of which General Horatio Gates was Pre- 
sident, directed to the Lieutenants of the counties through 
which the prisoners were to pass. 

The writs of habeas corpus on being presented to the Chief 
Justice, were marked by him, " Allowed by Thomas MKean" 
and they were served on the officers who had the prisoners in 
custody, when they had been taken on their journey as far as 
Reading, Pennsylvania, on the 14th day of September, but the 
officers refused to obey them. 

It appears by the Journal of the Supreme Executive Council 
of the 16th of September, that Alexander Nesbitt, one of the 
officers, had previously obtained information about the writs, 
and made a report of them ; when the Pennsylvania Legislature, 
at the instance of the Supreme Executive Council, passed a 
law on the 16th of September, 1777, to suspend the habeas 
corpus act ; and although it was an " ex post facto" law as it 
related to their case, the Supreme Executive Council on that 
day ordered the same to be carried into effect. 

The Congress must have been utterly regardless of the com- 
plaint made so lately by themselves against the arbitrary con- 
duct of the British Parliament, when they disregarded this 
appeal made to themselves for humanity and justice. The fol- 
lowing is an extract from one of their addresses to the people 
of Great Britain, and is dated on the 21st October, 1774. 

" We hold it essential to English liberty, that no man be con- 
demned unheard, or punished for supposed offences without 
having an opportunity of making his defence."* 

* See Hubley, p. 95. 



42 INTRODUCTION. 

Disregarding, however, all remonstrances, these citizens, 
without the semblance of justice or law, were sent into banish- 
ment. 

The party consisted of twenty persons, of whom seventeen 
were members of the Society of Friends. They were ordered 
first to Staunton, then a frontier town in the western settle- 
ments of Virginia, but afterwards to be detained at Winchester, 
where they were kept in partial confinement nearly eight 
months, without provision being made for their support. For 
the only reference to this, was by a resolution of the Supreme 
Executive Council of Pennsylvania, dated 8th April, 1778, as 
follows : 

" Ordered, That the whole expenses of arresting and confining 
the prisoners sent to Virginia, the expenses of their journey, and 
all other incidental charges, be paid by the said prisoners." 

During the stay of the exiles at Winchester, nearly all of 
them suffered greatly from circumstances unavoidable in their 
situation, — from anxiety, separation from their families, left un- 
protected in Philadelphia, then a besieged city liable at any 
time to be starved out or taken by assault ; while from sick- 
ness and exposure during the winter season, in accommoda- 
tions entirely unsuitable for them, two of their number departed 
this life in the month of March, 1778. 

General sympathy had become excited on account of so 
large a number of respectable citizens having been sent away 
from their homes under no specific accusation, and the case 
became one of public concernment as it respected the rights of 
society at large. 

In consequence of this, the Supreme Executive Council of 
Pennsylvania had to yield to the sense of public feeling, and re- 
view their conduct, and to remand the prisoners from the cus- 
tody of Congress in order to have them brought back to the 
position from which they had been taken. And the following 
extract from the journals of Congress will show the immediate 
cause of the order given for their being returned to Pennsyl- 
vania. 



INTRODUCTION. 43 

" In Congress, Tuesday, 10 March, 1778. 

" A letter was received from the Executive Council of Penn- 
sylvania, dated the 7th instant, in which it was stated — that 
the dangerous example which the longer continuance of the 
prisoners in banishment may afford on future occasions, has 
already given uneasiness to some good friends of the indepen- 
dence of these States; and if Congress has no other reason for 
continuing them in Virginia than the Council is acquainted 
with, that such orders may be given as will put those people 
again under the direction and custody of the President and 
Council of this State." 

The House of Congress acceded at once to the application 
of the Supreme Executive Council respecting the prisoners, 
and passed a resolution on the 16th March, directing the Board 
of War to deliver " the prisoners of the State of Pennsylvania" 
to the order of the Supreme Executive Council, that they might 
be returned to Pennsylvania. 

Many of the members of Congress had previously had inter- 
views with Alexander White, Esquire, a gentleman of the 
highest, respectability from the county of Fairfax, Virginia, to 
whose care the banished party had been committed by Colo- 
nel Joseph Holmes, the United States Commissary. Alexander 
White was afterwards a representative from the State of Vir- 
ginia to Congress. In those interviews the members of Con- 
gress frequently declared that " the prisoners ought to have 
been at their homes, for their banishment had answered no 
valuable purpose whatever." 

The long stay of the prisoners at Winchester, it is true, was 
palliated at times by the sympathy and kindness shown them ; 
and from the effect produced by their exemplary conduct as 
gentlemen and citizens, their manners, education, and candour 
showed them to be persons entitled to respect, notwithstanding 
the prejudices and misrepresentations which had been excited 
against them. 

On a fair exposition taking place respecting their peculiar 



44 



INTRODUCTION. 



situation, they received the attention and esteem of the gentle- 
men residing at Winchester, and in the country around it; 
some of whom had previously visited them at their houses in 
Philadelphia. 

The orders sent for their return to Pennsylvania, influenced 
by a more correct state of public feeling, contained expressions 
of personal respect even from the President and Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council which had sent them away. 

By the order from Congress of 16th March, 1778, to the 
Board of War, the exiles were to be delivered to the order of 
the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 
and then, by an order of this Council, they were to be brought 
to Lancaster, to be discharged there. 

In the directions of 10th April, 1778, to Francis Y. Bailey 
and Captain James Lang, who were appointed to escort them, 
the orders were as follows : 

" It is reported that several of those gentlemen are in a low 
state of health and unfit to travel. If you find this to be the 
case, they must be left where they are, for the present. Those 
of them who are in health you are to bring with you, treating 
them on the road with that polite attention and care, which is 
due from men who act from the purest motives, to gentlemen 
whose stations in life entitle them to respect, however they 
may differ in political sentiments from those in whose power 
they are." 

The party was conducted on the way homeward to Lancas- 
ter, Pennsylvania, from which place it was requisite that a 
special permission should be given to them to return to their 
homes in Philadelphia, — all intercourse with that city being 
interdicted, owing to its being in possession of the British 
forces, General Howe having taken possession of it soon after 
the Battle of Brandywine, and held it for his winter quarters 
till the campaign of the ensuing year. 

For the purpose of interceding in behalf of the Friends, four 
of the female relatives of the company had left their homes at 
Philadelphia to visit General Washington, to whom they had 



INTRODUCTION. 45 

previously addressed a memorial, at his headquarters at Val- 
ley Forge, where he treated them with great kindness. 

Letters were written by General Washington on the 5th and 
6th April, to Thomas Wharton, junior, President of the Su- 
preme Executive Council, and acting Governor of the State of 
Pennsylvania, for the desired permission — fac simile copies of 
which letters are given in this volume. One of them stated as 
follows : 

" You will judge of the propriety of permitting them to pro- 
ceed farther than Lancaster ; but from appearances I imagine 
their request may be safely granted. They seem much dis- 
tressed. Humanity pleads strongly in their behalf." 

On the exiles arriving near General Washington's head- 
quarters at Valley Forge, they addressed him a letter asking 
him for a special permission to pass the American lines into 
Philadelphia, which he promptly granted to their messenger by 
his Secretary, Tench Tilghman, Esquire ; and it was received 
and esteemed as a proof of his sense of justice. It was dated 
on the 29th April, 1778, when the party passed the American 
picket guard, whence Colonel Livingston permitted them to 
go on to their homes in Philadelphia. 

During the further four or five years' continuance of the 
war, the exiles who were left of the company returned to their 
homes, and resided in the city of Philadelphia, then in posses- 
sion of the British forces, till evacuated on the 17th June, 1778, 
when it was relinquished to the Americans, — the two armies 
having been alternately occupying and surrounding it for nearly 
a year. 

During these changes, the Friends who had returned from 
banishment enjoyed unimpaired the confidence of their fellow- 
citizens — no political conduct being imputed to them ; and on 
the organization of the General Government, they were en- 
gaged as. before to sustain institutions of public utility, some 
of them to hold offices of trust and honour, and to serve in the 
Legislature of the State. 



46 INTRODUCTION. 



REFLECTIONS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS 
RELATIVELY TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

The preceding narrative renders it necessary to review the 
general conduct of the Society of Friends, and particularly so, 
in regard to the American Revolution ; because as a religious 
and deliberative people, adverse to war, they withdrew from 
taking any part in the measures of the government, on the ap- 
proach of a political contest in which they could not unite. 

The Colonial Government of Pennsylvania had its origin 
with the emigration of the Friends from England ; it had been 
formed and conducted very much according to their own 
views, and they enjoyed under it for a long period great re- 
spect, and shared in common with others, great prosperity and 
peace. 

But at several times they had been aware of the unconstitu- 
tional attempts of Great Britain to tax the Colonies, and to 
control trade as well as to pass the Stamp Act ; all of which 
had taken place in Parliament without any representation from 
the Colonies in regard to their legality, expediency, or effect. 

On these laws reaching America they were found to be in- 
fringements of the colonial rights, and of the common rights 
of subjects of the realm, and they were highly offensive to the 
people. The Friends, therefore, with others, joined in making 
remonstrances against them, and they succeeded in obtaining 
their repeal by measures consistent with their principles. 

It was then thought proper by the people of Pennsylvania, 
residing in and near Philadelphia, who were affected by these 
encroachments of Great Britain upon the rights of the Colonies, 
to join the citizens in a non-importation agreement, to prevent 
goods from being imported from England until the offensive 
acts were repealed. To that instrument, dated 25th October, 
1765, the signatures of more than fifty members of the Society 
were placed, nine of which were of the Friends who were 
banished. 



INTRODUCTION. 47 

But there were several other measures taken by the Friends 
in favour of the principles of liberty to which they believed the 
American Colonies to be entitled. Among these it appears in 
Smith's History of New Jersey, " That no sooner were the 
Quakers settled in New Jersey, than an attempt was made by 
the Duke of York, who claimed the sovereignty there, to tax 
them, and this produced much discontent. Finally, about the 
year 1679, they made a manly intrepid remonstrance against 
the injustice of taxation without representation, stating that it is 
a fundamental law of the British constitution, that the King of 
England cannot take his subjects' goods without their consent; 
and they used nearly all the arguments which nearly one hun- 
dred years afterwards were deemed unanswerable." This tax 
was abated subsequently, and thus the first successful resistance 
to the conduct of the British government was made by the 
Friends, and it was in fact the first movement in the cause of 
American independence. 

At the commencement of the Revolution, in common with 
other citizens, the Friends hoped that as the Stamp Act had 
been repealed in consequence of the remonstrances of America 
to the government of England, and some of the other measures 
revoked, the ministry would be eventually compelled to yield 
to the representations of some of her ablest politicians who in- 
terceded so warmly in favour of the rights of the Colonies, as 
the Earl of Chatham, Lord Camden, Edmund Burke, the Duke of 
Richmond, Colonel Barre, and others, and that the immense 
importance of preserving the allegiance of this part of the em- 
pire by keeping its interests united to her own would be made 
clearly manifest. 

The repugnance of the Society of Friends to the hostile pro- 
gress of the Revolution arose from their principles, and from 
their feelings of humanity, independently of any anticipation of 
its progress or result. They never had taken part in any 
national strife, and it would have been inconsistent for them to 
have entered with zeal as partisans where all other active 



48 INTRODUCTION. 

measures were incompatible with their religious principles. 
Having no ambitious or political expectancies, they only viewed 
the contest with anxiety, under a sincere hope that the hostile 
parties would seek the reconciliation which their mutual in- 
terests dictated. 

This reluctance to war formed a peculiar characteristic of 
the Friends ; but it was also justly applicable to many con- 
siderate Americans in power, and even in the army : and the 
following are among many other evidences to show that inde- 
pendently of the pacific principle, the confidence of the people 
and even of some of the States was more fully placed upon an 
amicable settlement of the differences than upon the prosecution 
of the war. 

As the party of Friends who were returned from banish- 
ment passed homeward through York, Pennsylvania, on the 
24th of April, 1778, they had a friendly conference with Gene- 
ral Gates, who stated to them that resolutions had passed the 
British Parliament, proposing to repeal the several acts oppres- 
sive to America, and to appoint Commissioners to treat with 
the Americans, in order to settle the unhappy contest; with 
which resolutions he said he was much pleased, and thought 
that Great Britain had agreed to all the Americans had asked 
or contended for. 

When the Representatives were appointed by the Colonies 
to form the first Congress, and met at Philadelphia, the 5th 
September, 1774, to consult upon measures expedient to be 
pursued, they proceeded only so far as to petition the King for 
a redress of grievances inflicted upon their colonial rights, by 
the several acts of Parliament relatively to the Tea Tax — to 
the act shutting up the port of Boston, and other similar mea- 
sures, and then they dissolved on 26th October. They had 
recommended the appointment of another Congress, which was 
chosen afterwards, and met at Philadelphia, 10th May, 1775, 
and continued its sessions. 

But these bodies, constantly relying on the adjustment of the 
differences, never expressed a desire to create an independent 



INTRODUCTION. 49 

government in the country notwithstanding the acts of warfare 
which had been committed by the British forces at the Battle 
of Lexington, on the 19th April, and Bunker's Hill, on the 17th 
June, 1775, and declarations of allegiance continued to be ex- 
pressed in all their resolutions. 

On the 6th July, the language of Congress was as follows : 
" Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our 
friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure 
them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has been 
so long and so happily existing between us, and which we sin- 
cerely wish to see restored." 

There had been no representation sent from the Colony of 
Georgia to the first Congress appointed by the States to meet 
at Philadelphia on the 5th September, 1774, and that Colony 
did not send one to the second Congress, which met there on 
the 10th of May, 1775, until the 15th July. 

The Declaration of Independence was under preparation in 
Congress for a considerable time ; and though finally passed on 
the 4th of July, 1776, had been debated and deferred from the 
important consequences to result from its passage. 

It had been referred to the decision of Congress from several 
of the states, but on its being moved there, on the 7th June, 
1776, by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John Adams, 
it was agreed in Congress, that neither the name of the mover 
or seconder should be entered on the journal, and a committee 
of five members was appointed to draw up a Declaration of 
Independence, in case Congress should agree thereto. 

After the act had passed Congress, 4th July, 1776, it became 
necessary that the new measures attending it should make their 
way into the minds of the people, many of whom, though to 
be relied upon to sustain the rights of the country, would 
naturally have felt a caution in regard to its immediate effect 
and relatively to the time at which the people should be pre- 
pared to receive it. 

The colony of New Jersey had no constitution nor charter 

4 



50 INTRODUCTION. 

under its allegiance to the British government, but it was 
thought proper to make one about this time. This was under 
discussion by the representatives at Trenton during the time 
that Congress was debating upon the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence at Philadelphia, and when the Constitution of New 
Jersey was adopted and signed there on the 2d of July, 1776, 
only two days before the Declaration of Independence, there 
was inserted in it this remarkable condition : — 

" Provided always that it is the true intent and meaning of 
this Congress, that if a reconciliation between Great Britain 
and these Colonies should take place, and the latter be again 
taken under the government and protection of Great Britain, 
this Charter shall be null and void, otherwise to remain, firm 
and inviolable." 

If, therefore, a diversity of views were entertained among 
several of the states and governments, under a hope of a set- 
tlement of the difficulties, a cautious line of conduct should not 
have been considered censurable on the part of individuals. 

The Friends especially, believing all warlike measures to be 
antichristian, had never obeyed the injunctions of any govern- 
ment when they led to them. In this respect they differed from 
other members of the community, who were willing to seek 
redress for national or personal injuries, by force or retaliation. 
On the other hand they never sought to attain their object by 
flattery, or by adulation to persons in power, as kings or rulers, 
for they prized too highly the rights of the people, and the 
duties owing by the rulers to their fellow-citizens, who were 
placed under their care not for subjection but for protection. 

And while they felt themselves bound to treat kings and 
rulers with respect, they had frequently remonstrated, both in 
person and 'by letters, in very plain terms, to several of them, 
— to Oliver Cromwell, to King Charles II., to King James II., 
and others, upon their private and public conduct, when it was 
adverse to the liberty and interest of their country. And cer- 
tainly, under the impending difficulties between America and 
England, caused by circumstances so justly to be complained 



INTRODUCTION. 51 

of, they could never have promoted such an address as was 
sent by Congress to the king immediately after the hostile acts 
with which the war had been commenced. Had they done 
this, they would have been amenable to a charge of flattery 
and insincerity, to which no part of their conduct had ever 
approached. 

This address of the Congress of the United States of America 
to King George the Third, dated on the 8th of July, 1775, con- 
tains as follows : 

" Attached as we are to your Majesty's person and govern- 
ment, with all the devotion which principle and affection can 
inspire, connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that 
can unite societies, and deploring any event which tends in any 
degree to weaken them, we do solemnly assure your Majesty 
that we do not only desire that the former happiness between 
her and these Colonies may be restored, but that such a concord 
may be established between us as to perpetuate its blessings, 
and to transmit your Majesty's name to posterity adorned with 
that signal and lasting glory, which has attended the memory 
of those illustrious personages whose virtues and abilities have 
extricated states from dangerous convulsions, and by securing 
happiness to others, have erected the most noble and durable 
monuments to their own fame." 

This flattering address to the king was a descent from the 
high standing theretofore assumed by the Congress of the 
nation. It was an attempt at policy, in appealing to the con- 
sideration of the king in whom they had no confidence, because 
they knew that ever since the treaty with France in 1763, 
when England obtained possession of the Canadas, and of 
America generally, the government had begun the oppressive 
measures of Colonial taxation, which were always attributed to 
the king and his ministry. 

It was sent at the time the Colonists were suffering under a 
violation of their most important rights by an army occupying 
their country to compel their surrender, and also after the war 
commenced, in the spring and summer of that year, at the 
battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill ; which with other 



52 INTRODUCTION. 

aggressions they soon after embodied in the Declaration of 
Independence, in which they declared him, " a prince whose 
character is thus marked with every act which may define a 
tyrant, is unfit to be a ruler of a free people." 

The Society of Friends, on the contrary, had persevered in 
a course to obtain the important objects of their civil and re- 
ligious rights, by measures devoid both of flattery or offence ; 
they had never made to the officers of government in England 
or America such expressions of " devotion or attachment," nor 
did they go beyond those professions of just and independent 
respect due to persons placed in power for the preservation of 
society. 

Their addresses were made plainly to " The King" as holding 
that position in the government of their country; they were 
free from any of the appellatives of dignity, or any of the com- 
plimentary forms of servility, and on the occasions when they 
sought redress from the Parliament in regard to the religious 
rights due to them as subjects, or for their civil or colonial 
rights, it was by an intrepid and manly maintenance of their 
privileges, until that body became convinced of the justice of 
their demand. 

On the 4th day of October, 1777, while the Friends re- 
mained in banishment in Virginia, a committee of six, which 
had been appointed by the Yearly Meeting of Friends of Penn- 
sylvania, visited the generals of both the contending armies, in 
order to explain to them the independent and impartial course 
their peaceable principles had required them to pursue. 

These visits were made to General Howe and to General 
Washington, who received them very courteously at their re- 
spective headquarters. In these interviews they gave such 
explanations of the principles, and of the conduct of the Society, 
as were satisfactory, and removed from the minds of General 
Washington and his officers, who were assembled at camp, all 
impression of their having been concerned in the Spanktown 
memorial, or in any political interference which had been im- 
puted to them, and published by order of Congress ; and they 



INTRODUCTION. 53 

refuted other misrepresentations which had found their way 
into the public prints, and had caused prejudices against them, 
on which the measures of Congress and of the Supreme Execu- 
tive Council had been founded. 

On the conference being ended, a full confidence in the im- 
partiality of the conduct of the Friends w r as expressed by each 
of the generals, and the committee was permitted to pass their 
respective military lines to return into the city of Philadelphia, 
then in possession of the British forces. 

It is true that the Society had issued its advice to its mem- 
bers, to be faithful to their peaceable principles, and to keep 
out of all warlike measures ; and this advice, consistent with 
the uniform conduct of the Society, was intended to repress 
any desire any of their members had to engage in the contest 
on either side. It had been urged impartially, and could have 
afforded no just ground of complaint against the Society from 
one of the contending parties more than from the other. 

It is quite probable that the Society of Friends, under the 
kind course of treatment they were entitled to receive, and 
such as was extended to other respectable members of the 
community by the persons in power, would have manifested 
the same impressions as other citizens, regarding the indepen- 
dence of the country, and its responsibilities to itself and not to 
a foreign land. But there had been a strong party prejudice 
created against them, arising from an idea of their being people 
of influence — from their former position in the government, as 
well as from the reserved and cautious conduct incident to 
their principles. 

For in the tumult of the times the ardour of the revolution- 
ary enthusiasm w 7 as opposed to deliberate reflection, and an 
idea prevailed that " he that is not for us is against us," in- 
stead of the more kind one, that " he that is not against us is 
for us ;" and reason and reflection being too slow for popular 
feeling, the conservative views of the Society were neither 
consulted nor appreciated. 

The liberal and independent principles of the Friends, with 



54 INTRODUCTION. 

their influence and judgment, would have answered many valu- 
able purposes to the country, because they were much re- 
spected, and no persons had ever been more firm and consis- 
tent in sustaining the rights of the people. 

In addition to the cases already stated, this appears in the 
published volumes of the votes and proceedings of the Colonial 
Assembly of Pennsylvania, where the votes of the Friends who 
were members of that body are always to be found on the 
popular or liberal side. In the year 1742, when the election 
of members of Assembly was contested, the chief opposition 
was made by the members of the Society of Friends to the 
patronage, both of the Crown and the Proprietary.* 

It was by the vigilance of this Society in Pennsylvania, and 
its interest with Friends in England, that Edmund Burke was 
returned to Parliament from the city of Bristol. As an advo- 
cate of the American cause, his celebrated speeches denounced 
the ministerial measures pursued in Massachusetts, which had 
caused the convention of the first Congress, and brought on 
the Revolutionary War. 

The correspondence of the Friends in England with their 
friends in America shows the deep interest they took in pre- 
venting the hostile measures of the ministry, and towards pro- 
ducing a reconciliation. Dr. John Fothergill and David Bar- 
clay were among those who were particularly active, being 
entitled to make this interference as men of weight of character 
and great popularity. They assisted Dr. Franklin in England, 
and gave their opinion to the ministry firmly in favour of the 
rights of the Colonies, and of their claims made for redress. 

It is true that the affinities of commercial and friendly 
intercourse which existed so largely between England and 
America, created relations which had been for a long time 
conducted to mutual advantage, and " which when long 
established should not be changed for light and transient 
causes;" but as it has been stated, when the non- importation 
agreement of 25th October, 1765, appeared necessary to pro- 

* See the votes of Pennsylvania Assembly, appended to vol. iii. 



INTRODUCTION. 55 

duce a just and proper effect upon the government of England, 
it was united in by the Friends as generally as by others. 

The justice and moderation with which the Colonial govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania had been conducted, showed the Friends 
to be philosophers in politics as well as in religion, and pro- 
duced its good effect upon the principles and habits of the 
colonists. This, together with their just and amicable care of 
the Indian natives, became well known in Europe, and raised 
very highly the character of the province. 

The connexion America had formed with France in order 
to aid the country through the war of the Revolution, caused 
many military officers, statesmen, and gentlemen of high 
standing from the continent of Europe, to be some time in this 
country. They became domesticated here ; they had an ac- 
quaintance with a number of the Friends, and were much 
pleased with the intercourse they enjoyed among them. 

It was, however, more particularly in the State of Penn- 
sylvania, that these gentlemen were made sensible of the plain 
republican habits of domestic life, with the principles of 
government, and with the charitable establishments founded by 
private benevolence, and conducted without patronage, on a 
system of such general usefulness and order, as to exceed their 
highest expectations. 

The progress of mankind in moral and social science is 
confessedly slow : it has been subject to the imperfections of 
human nature ; and the peaceful and benignant principles of 
Christianity are liable to many interruptions from the agitations 
and conflicts of society. 

Whether or not the practice of the principles advocated by 
the Society of Friends may continue to be maintained by them- 
selves or by others, or are only to be handed down as the history 
of a past apostolic era, which had shed the promise of a better 
dispensation to the New World, — a future time will determine. 
The evidence and experience of these are now before us, in 
our recollections and traditions ; the recorded volumes and tes- 
timonies of this age are extant, and though they may be left in 



56 INTRODUCTION. 

obscurity, contain a code of self-evident truths, the exposition 
of which has gone imperceptibly into society ; — these truths 
have formed the basis of our social system — of our daily inter- 
course, and justify the integrity and simplicity of its character. 
We see these principles in the institutions for which the 
State of Pennsylvania has been distinguished, for they were 
brought here with the Colonists. The toleration of religious 
liberty joined to the glory of forming an equal government for 
civil and religious rights, without discrimination of sects or pro- 
fessions, have their birthplace in Pennsylvania. The friendly 
care of the Indian natives, — of the poor, — the diseased, — and 
the aged, — the practice of temperance as a requisite to religious 
society, — the system for the employment and reformation of 
criminals, — of societies to do away with the injustice of slavery, 
and for the discouragement of war, — originating here, have been 
extended through the land, and are now becoming imitated 
through Europe. These are peculiarly due to the Society of 
Friends, which engrafted them into its discipline for the 
government of its members, for their intercourse with others, 
and which has persevered to bring them into adoption for the 
benefit of the community. 



INTRODUCTION. 57 



MEETING OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF FRIENDS AT 
PHILADELPHIA. 

Minutes of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, 1777, 3d of 10th 
month. Afternoon. 

James Thornton, on behalf of the Committee on Epistles, 
&c, reports — 

That a weighty consideration hath been before them, re- 
specting some Friends going, by appointment of this meeting, 
on a visit to William Howe, General of the British Army, and 
to George Washington, General of the American Army, and 
to take with them the testimony yesterday approved by this 
meeting; in which visits or opportunities they are to endeavour 
to lay before said generals, or any of their officers, or other 
people, the reason of publishing that testimony ; and also, fur- 
ther to remonstrate on the behalf of our banished Friends, or 
proceed in other respects on behalf of truth and our religious 
society, as best wisdom may dictate and make way for them. 

The subject being now weightily attended to, and the senti- 
ments of many Friends expressed in approbation of such a con- 
cern and visit, the meeting nominates and approves for this 
purpose, William Brown, James Thornton, Nicholas Wain, 
Warner Mifflin, Joshua Morris, and Samuel Emlen, who are 
to make report to the Meeting for Sufferings, when they have 
performed the service. 

A Testimony given forth from our Yearly Meeting, held at 
Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, by adjourn- 
ments, from the 29th day of the 9th month to the 4th of the 
10th month, inclusive, 1777. 

A number of our friends having been imprisoned and ban- 
ished, unheard, from their families, under a charge and insinu- 
ation that " they have in their general conduct and conversation 



58 INTRODUCTION. 

evidenced a disposition inimical to the cause of America;" 
and from some publications, intimating " that there is strong 
reason to apprehend that these persons maintain a correspon- 
dence highly prejudicial to the public safety," there may be 
induced a belief that we have in our conduct departed from 
the peaceable principles which we profess ; and apprehending 
that the minds of some may thereby be misled, for the clearing 
up of truth, we think it necessary publicly to declare, that we 
are led out of all wars and fightings by the principle of grace 
and truth in our own minds, by which we are restrained, either 
as private members of society, or in any of our meetings, from 
holding a correspondence with either army; but are concerned 
to spread the testimony of truth and the peaceable doctrines of 
Christ, to seek the good of all, to keep a conscience void of 
offence towards God and man, to promote the kingdom of the 
Messiah, which we pray may come, and be experienced in in- 
dividuals, in kingdoms, and nations, that they may " beat their 
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, 
and nation not lift up sword against nation, neither learn war 
any more." (Isaiah, ii. 4.) And we deny, in general terms, all 
charges and insinuations which in any degree clash with this 
our profession. 

As to a nameless paper lately published, said to be dated at 
Spanktown Yearly Meeting, and found among the baggage on 
Staten Island, every person who is acquainted with our style, 
may be convinced it was never written by any of our meet- 
ings, or by any of our friends. Besides, there is no meeting 
throughout our whole Society of that name, nor was that letter, 
or any one like it, ever written in any of our meetings since 
we were a people. We therefore solemnly deny the said letter, 
and wish that those who have assumed a fictitious character 
to write under, whether with a view to injure us or cover 
themselves, might find it their place to clear us of this charge, 
by stating the truth. 

As from the knowledge we have of our banished friends, 



INTRODUCTION. 59 

and the best information we have been able to obtain, we are 
convinced they have done nothing to forfeit their just right to 
liberty, we fervently desire, that all those who have any hand 
in sending them into banishment, might weightily consider the 
tendency of their own conduct, and how contrary it is to the 
doctrines and example of our Lord and Lawgiver, Christ 
Jesus ; and do them that justice which their case requires, by 
restoring them to their afflicted families and friends ; and this, 
we are well assured, will conduce more to their peace, than 
keeping them in exile. 

•We give forth this admonition, in the fear of God, not only 
with a view to the relief of our friends, but also to the real in- 
terest of those concerned in their banishment. 

Having been favoured to meet to transact the affairs of our 
religious society, which relate to the promotion of the cause of 
truth and righteousness, we have felt a renewed concern for 
the good and happiness of mankind in general, and in the love 
of the Gospel, have issued forth this testimony, for the clearing 
ourselves and our friends, and the warning of those who, from 
groundless suspicions and mistaken notions concerning us, may 
be persuaded to seek our hurt, to the wounding of their own 
souls and the loss of the community. 

Signed by order and on behalf of the Yearly Meeting. 

Isaac Jackson, 

Clerk. 

From the Minutes of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in 
Philadelphia, in 10th month, 1778. 

REP ORT. 

We, the committee appointed by our last Yearly Meeting, 
to visit the generals of the two contending armies, on the 
second day of the week following our said meeting, proceeded 
to General Howe's headquarters, near Germantown, and had 
a seasonable opportunity of a conference with him, and deli- 



60 INTRODUCTION. 

vered him one of the testimonies issued by the Yearly Meet- 
ing, and then proceeded on our way to General Washington's 
camp, at which we arrived next day, without meeting with 
any interruption ; and being conducted to headquarters, where 
the principal officers were assembled in council, after waiting 
some time, we were admitted and had a very full opportunity 
of clearing the Society from some aspersions which had been 
invidiously raised against them, and distributed a number of 
the testimonies amongst the officers, who received and read 
them, and made no objections. 

We were much favoured and mercifully helped with the 
seasoning virtue of truth, and the presence of the Master was 
very sensibly felt, who made way for us beyond expectation, 
it being a critical and dangerous season. We may further add, 
that we were kindly entertained by General Washington and 
his officers ; but, lest on our return we should be examined as 
to intelligence, we were desired to go to Pottsgrove for a few 
days, within which time such alterations might take place as 
to render our return less exceptionable to them; where we 
were accordingly sent, under the guard or care of a single 
officer, and hospitably entertained by Thomas Rutter, a very 
kind man, and others of our friends. 

In this town we had some good service for the truth. 

Two of the committee were discharged on sixth day after- 
noon, and the other four on seventh day, having been detained 
between three and four days. Two of the Friends, upon com- 
ing within the English lines, then near Vanderin's Mill, were 
stopped and questioned respecting intelligence about the Ame- 
ricans, which they declining to give, they were sent, under a 
guard, to the Hessian colonel who commanded at that post, 
and he proposed several questions respecting the American 
army, which the Friends declining to answer, he grew very 
angry, rough, and uncivil, using some harsh reflecting lan- 
guage, and ordered a guard to conduct them to the Hessian 
General, Knyphausen, who appeared more friendly. But he, 
not understanding the English language, sent them, under the 



INTRODUCTION. 61 

conduct of a lighthorseman or trooper, to General Howe's 
headquarters at Germantown ; but upon the two Friends in- 
forming one of his aide-de-camps who they were, they were 
dismissed without being farther interrogated. So that no kind 
of intelligence was obtained from them, nor any departure 
from the language of the testimony they had delivered. 

We believe the Lord's hand was in it, guarding us from im- 
proper compliances, and bringing us through this weighty ser- 
vice, though it was a time of close humbling baptism. 

As to the charge respecting the intelligence said to have been 
given from Spanktown Yearly Meeting, we believe General 
Washington, and all the officers then present, being a pretty 
many, were fully satisfied as to Friends' clearness ; and we 
hope and believe, through the Lord's blessing, the opportunity 
we had was useful many ways ; there having been great open- 
ness and many observations upon various subjects, to edifica- 
tion, and tending to remove and clear up some prejudices 
which had been imbibed. 

Signed, Samuel Emlen, 

William Brown, 
Joshua Morris, 
James Thornton, 
Warner Mifflin, 
Nicholas Waln. 



The following paper, purporting to have originated from the 
Society of Friends, was directed by Congress to be published 
in Philadelphia. 

Extract of a letter from General Sullivan to Congress, dated Hanover, (near 
Newark, New Jersey,) 25 August, 1777. 

" Among baggage taken on Staten Island, the 22d instant, I 
find a number of important papers. A copy of three I enclose 
for the perusal of Congress. The one of the Yearly Meeting of 



62 INTRODUCTION. 

Spanktown, held the 19th instant, I think worthy the attention 
of Congress. 

"No. 1. Where is Washington? what number of men or cannon? 

2. Where is Sterling ? what number of men or cannon? 

3. Where is Sullivan ? &c. 

4. Where is Dayton and Ogden ? what number? 

5. Whether there be any troops passing or repassing ? 

6. Intelligence from Albany. 

7. Intelligence from Philadelphia. 

8. Be very particular about time and place." 

41 Information from Jersey, 19 August, 1777. 

" It is said General Howe landed near the head of Chesa- 
peake Bay, but cannot learn the particular spot or when. 

"Washington lays in Pennsylvania, about 12 miles from 
Coryell's Ferry. 

" Sullivan lays about six miles north of Morristown, with 
about two thousand men. 

" Spanktown Yearly Meeting." 



" Intelligence from Jersey, Sunday, July 28, 1777. 

" I saw on their full march, about seven miles from Morris- 
town, on the road to Delaware, General Washington, General 
Muhlenburg, General Weeden, with four thousand men, and 
General Knox with his train of artillery, consisting of fourteen 
field pieces, and one howitz, seventy-nine ammunition wagons, 
and one hundred and thirty baggage wagons ; and then pro- 
ceeding on their road from Hackettstown to Easton, there saw 
on their full march to Delaware, General Stevens and General 
Scott, with four thousand men, and light field pieces, and on 
the road met twenty-nine flat-bottomed boats, and proceeded 
down to Quibbletown, where I saw General Sullivan and 
General Conway, with three thousand men and no field pieces. 

" I am informed that General Sullivan has crossed the North 



INTRODUCTION. 63 

River, and is bringing up the rear. As to the truth of that I 
hope I shall be able to inform you in two or three days." 
Received August 31, 1777. 

Published by order of Congress. 

Charles Thomson, 

Secretary. 

The above publication may be found at the Philadelphia 
Library in Folio 384, Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet, No. 304, 
Philadelphia, Tuesday, 9 September, 1777; and in the Supple- 
ment ; and also in the Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 2533, Phila- 
delphia, Wednesday, 10 September, 1777. 



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JOURNAL 



AND 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE EXILES, 

CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, 
SENT TO WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA. 

From 2d September, 1777, to 30th April, 1778. 



EXILE OF FRIENDS FROM PHILADELPHIA TO VIRGINIA. 

Philadelphia, 9th month, (September,) 1777. 

A report had for some weeks prevailed that lists of a great 
number of persons were made out, with an intent shortly to 
apprehend and confine them ; but for what cause was a pro- 
found secret. Several who had the confidence of some of the 
leading men had seen the lists, and from what they could dis- 
cover in conversation, it was understood that four or five hun- 
dred of the respectable inhabitants were to be secured and sent 
out of the city. 

A number of persons professing great attachment to the 
cause of liberty, undertook the arduous office of executing the 
arbitrary mandates of the President and Council, and called at 
our houses, demanding of most of us to sign a paper, conceived 
in the following terms. 

" I, do promise not to depart from 

my dwelling-house, and to be ready to appear on demand of 
the President and Council of the State of Pennsylvania, and do 
engage to refrain from doing any thing injurious to the United 
States of North America, by speaking, writing, or otherwise, 
and from giving intelligence to the Commander of the British 
forces, or any person whatever concerning public affairs." 

Several of us, on seeing the paper to be subscribed, replied 

5 



66 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

that except going out of our houses as our various occasions 
of business had required, we had not infringed at any time 
upon the requisition demanded ; but we could not agree to give 
up that privilege ; on which we were told we must go before the 
President and Council. 

Some of us were taken to the Masons' Lodge under a 
promise of being heard by the Council, who was said to be 
sitting there ; but this was found to be a deception, as they 
were immediately put under a strong guard and a hearing 
denied them. Some were brought there without the offer of 
becoming prisoners in their own houses, but the greater part 
were treated in the following manner, with some inconsiderable 
variations. 

Upon reading the paper, we demanded to know upon what 
authority they acted — -and were answered, By virtue of a reso- 
lution of Congress, and by orders of Council. We demanded to 
see their written orders, which was in general absolutely refused. 
To some few, who were more pressing, part of a warrant was 
read ; but not one of us was suffered to read or copy the origi- 
nal. We remonstrated against so arbitrary a proceeding, and 
endeavoured to convince them that signing such a paper would 
be an acknowledgment of guilt, and would subject us to be re- 
moved at an hour's warning without knowing the charge 
against us ; and after laying before them the iniquity of the 
measure, we refused to become voluntary prisoners for sup- 
posed offences, because we knew ourselves innocent of any. 

Some of the persons asserted they had undertaken the 
business against their inclination, to prevent it being executed 
by military officers, who would have used more rigour ; but 
this appeared to be only to excuse themselves to us. They re- 
fused us a reasonable time to prepare for confinement, and in 
some instances brought a military force to intimidate us ; they 
entered the houses of John Hunt, John Pemberton, Henry 
Drinker, Edward Pennington, and William Smith, (broker,) 
broke their desks, searched them, and carried off private papers, 
and some printed books, under colour of orders for that pur- 
pose, which they would not show. The order of time we 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 67 

were apprehended and confined in the Lodge, by persons 
appointed, is as follows : 

1777, 9th month, 2d.— - William Druit Smith, Thomas Af- 
fleck, Thomas Gilpin, William Lenox, Alexander Stedman, 
Charles Stedman, Samuel Rowland Fisher, William Inlay, 
James Pemberton, Miers Fisher, Thomas Fisher, Thomas 
Wharton, Edward Pennington, John Pemberton, Owen Jones, 
Jr., Charles Eddy, Joseph Fox, Thomas Combe, Jr., William 
Smith, (broker.) 

1777, 9th month, 3d. — Henry Drinker, Charles Jervis, John 
Galloway, William Hollingshead, E. Ayres, Phineas Bond, 
Thomas Pike. 

1777, 9th month, 4th. — John Hunt, Israel Pemberton, Samuel 
Pleasants. 

The above three were first called on, then taken by a par- 
ticular order of Council, and committed. — N. B. Two of the 
officers were active in breaking the desk of John Hunt, and 
searching his papers. 

9th month, 5th — Elijah Brown. 

9th month, 2d, continued. — The guards set over us refused 
for some time to suffer any persons to come to us, telling us 
their orders were to admit no persons whatever ; towards 
evening, however, they relaxed from this strictness, and ad- 
mitted most of our friends who applied. About ten o'clock, 
being supplied with bedding, we lay down and slept in general 
very well. 

9th month, 3d. — After breakfast we were called upon by a 
number of our friends, several of whom were refused admit- 
tance. Some of us conversing through the windows, were 
ordered by the guards to desist, and one of them presented his 
gun, cocked, and threatened to fire. This brought on a con- 
ference with Lewis Nicola ; after which our friends who 
applied, were admitted to a considerable number. Ten o'clock, 
Henry Drinker, and Charles Jervis, were added to our society. 

Lewis Nicola, the town major, having informed us that he 
had not the command of the guards, or any thing to do with 



68 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

our confinement, save that he was ordered by the President 
and Council to furnish William Bradford with a guard for the 
purpose, which he had accordingly done, but had nothing 
further in charge, we therefore, this morning took the oppor- 
tunity as Mr. William Bradford passed the door of our cham- 
ber, to represent to him the misbehaviour of some of the guard, 
who we apprehended were under his command, when he 
assured us that he had nothing to do with them, nor would he 
have any charge over us. We desired to know of him by 
what authority we were confined, upon which he produced a 
warrant signed by George Bryan, Vice-President of the Coun- 
cil, setting forth a recommendation of Congress to take up 
and confine a number of persons by name, and all others who 
by their general conduct had shown themselves to be inimical 
to the United States, &c, which he read to us. We acquainted 
him that we desired to be heard in our defence, and demanded 
a copy of the warrant, which he said he would procure for us 
upon our offering to take a copy and return him the original. 
He repeated his promise, saying he would copy it himself, and 
certify it to be a true copy. 

William Bradford was here again about one o'clock, and 
told us that he had just come from Council, to whom he repre- 
sented the complaints against the guards, — our desire of a copy 
of the warrant, and a hearing. They informed him that as a 
number of persons named were not yet taken, it would be im- 
proper now to give a copy ; but w 7 e should have it as soon as 
that was done. That they would give Lewis Nicola written 
orders relative to the guard ; and as the Council was in con- 
ference with some members of Congress, it was probable we 
should have a hearing. 

Between three and four o'clock, Benjamin Paschall, accom- 
panied by Edward Middieton, entered our chamber and ad- 
dressing himself to Wm. Smith, (broker,) said, " I am come as 
a magistrate of this city to know what you are confined here 
for." To which he was answered, " We are waiting to know 
that ourselves. We were sent here and detained by a military 
force, in opposition, and in direct violation of the civil autho- 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 69 

rity, and our cause is the cause of every freeman in Pennsyl- 
vania. That Lewis Nicola, town major, and William Brad- 
ford, colonel, had both declared they had no charge to keep 
ns in confinement." " Who, then, does confine you ?" We an- 
swered, "We know not, nor on what account we are confined, 
but are told it is in pursuance of a recommendation of Congress 
and a resolve of the Council, signed by George Bryan, Vice- 
President — the President himself having denied he had any 
thing to do with it." He then asked if we had had a hearing, 
to which he was answered, " No !" He then said if we did 
not know what we were confined for it was his business, as a 
magistrate, to see and inquire about it. Between four and five 
o'clock, Benjamin Paschall and Edward Middleton returned, 
and informed us they had been to seek some of the great men, 
but could find none but Vice-President Bryan, who told them 
we were to be sent to Virginia, without a hearing ! At this 
extraordinary message we were astounded, and expressed, in 
proper terms, our sentiments upon so unheard of a stretch of 
arbitrary power. Benjamin Paschall and his companion seemed 
shocked at the idea, and after a discourse of some length, they 
concluded it was a case of so alarming a nature, that the 
citizens should interest themselves in it. He said he would 
confer with his brethren of the Bench, and do every thing in 
his power to avert a blow so fatal to the liberties of Pennsyl- 
vania. Edward Middleton said to one of the company upon 
leaving the room, " You shall not go yet;" and so they left us. 
At eight o'clock, Phineas Bond was brought by Lewis 
Nicola into the room as a prisoner. He informed us he had 
been induced to accept of the parole, when offered to him, but 
for reasons which he gave us, he had surrendered it, and volun- 
tarily accepted of a place of confinement with us. Thomas 
Pike, who had also given his parole and surrendered to us, was 
also added to our number. 

Philadelphia, 4th of 9th month, 1777. 

This morning, taking our situation into consideration, we 
thought it expedient to urge William Bradford to furnish us 



70 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

with a copy of the warrant against us ; and the following letter 
was read, approved, and signed, and Samuel Coates and 
Thomas Eddy undertook to deliver it. 

Masons' Lodge, 4th of 9th month, 1777. 
Friend William Bradford, — 

When men are deprived of their liberty, it is their indisputa- 
ble right to demand of the persons who confine them, a copy 
of the warrant under which they act. This demand w T as made 
of the persons by whom we were arrested, by divers of us who 
were absolutely refused it. The extraordinary mode of con- 
ducting this business, prevented our knowing to whom we were 
to apply to procure a copy, till yesterday thou produced a copy 
of what we apprehended was the original. We then demanded 
a transcript, which thou promised to furnish us with, properly 
certified. At the second interview, thou made an objection : 
that, as a number of persons named in it had not been taken, 
it would be improper to expose their names, but as soon as that 
should take place thou would give us a copy. 

As we are conscious of innocence, and it will be difficult to 
attempt any thing for our relief without, we now repeat our de- 
mand, and in order to obviate thy objection, we consent that 
the names of those who have not been arrested be omitted in 
the copy to be furnished us. 

To this demand we apprehend no reasonable objection can 
be made, and therefore expect a speedy compliance, and are 
thy friends, 

John Pemberton. Thomas Combe. 

James Pemberton. Charles Eddy. 

William Smith, (broker.) Owen Jones, jun. 

Charles Jervis. Henry Drinker. 

Miers Fisher. Thomas Fisher. 

Thomas Affleck. Thomas Wharton. 

Thomas Pike. Samuel R. Fisher. 

Edward Pennington. William D. Smith. 

Thomas Gilpin. 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 71 

Samuel Coates and Charles Eddy soon returned and in- 
formed us they had delivered our letter to William Bradford, 
who said he would go immediately to the Council, and call 
upon us with an answer. James Pemberton, Edward Pen- 
nington, Thomas Wharton, Henry Drinker, Thomas Combe, 
and Miers Fisher, were desired to consider of such further 
measures as would be most likely to procure relief for us, and 
to prepare an essay of a remonstrance, if they should think it a 
proper mode of application to any of the present powers. At 
1 1 o'clock, William Bradford called and informed us that a 
copy of the warrant was preparing and should be delivered as 
soon as it was finished, which being done soon after, is as fol- 
lows: 

IN COUNCIL. 

Philadelphia, August 31, 1777. 

Whereas, the Congress of the United States of North Ame- 
rica, have by their resolve of the 28th instant, August, recom- 
mended to the executive powers of the several States, to ap- 
prehend and secure all persons, who have in their general 
conduct and conversation evinced a disposition inimical to the 
cause of America, particularly, Joshua Fisher, Abel James, 
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Israel Pemberton, John 
Pemberton, John James, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Wharton, 
sen., Thomas Fisher, and Samuel Fisher, (sons of Joshua,) 
together with all papers in their possession which may be of a 
political nature, and that the persons so seized be confined in 
such places, and treated in such manner as may be consistent 
with their respective characters, and the securities of their per- 
sons, and that the records and papers of the Meeting of Suffer- 
ings of the Society of the people called Quakers, in the several 
States, be forthwith secured, and such parts of them as may be 
of a political nature, be forthwith transmitted to Congress. 
And whereas, it is necessary for the public safety at this time, 
when a British army has landed in Maryland, with a professed 



72 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 



design of enslaving this free country, and is now advancing 
toward this city, as a principal object of hostility, that such 
dangerous persons be accordingly secured, therefore, re- 
solved, that a suitable number of friends to the public cause, 
be authorized forthwith to seize and secure the persons of the 
said 



# Joshua Fisher, 
*Thomas Wharton, sen., 
*Henry Drinker, 
John James, 
*Miers Fisher, 
*Adam Kuhn, M. D., 
*George Roberts, 
# Rev. Thomas Combe, 
*Charles Jervis, 
^Samuel Pleasants, 
*James Pemberton, 
*John Pemberton, 
^Israel Pemberton, 
*Samuel Emlen, jun., 
*Hugh Roberts, 
* William Smith, D. D., 
*John Hunt, 
*Samuel Murdock, 
*Abel James, 
Elijah Brown, 
# Phineas Bond, 



*Thomas Fisher, son of Joshua, 

# Samuel Fisher, son of Joshua, 

*Joseph Fox, 

*Samuel Shoemaker, 

William Druit Smith. 

Alexander Stedman, 

Charles Stedman, jun., 

*Owen Jones, jun., 

William Lennox, 

*Caleb Emlen, 

*Charles Eddy, 

*Thomas Pike, 

*Thomas Ashton, merchant, 

*Samuel Jackson, 

William Smith, broker, 

William Inlay, 

* Jeremiah Warden, 

*Thomas Gilpin, 

# Edward Pennington, 

*Thomas Affleck. 



Resolved, That the following instructions be also given : 
Early attention should be paid to John Hunt, who lives on 
the Germantown Road, about five miles from the city, and to 
John Pemberton, Samuel Emlen, and other leaders in the 
Society of Quakers, concerning books and papers ; as to the 
rest, your own prudence will direct. 

Congress recommends it, and we wish to treat men of repu- 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 73 

tation with as much tenderness as the security of their persons 
and papers will admit. We desire, therefore, that if the per- 
sons whose names in the list are marked with a cross thus x 
offer to you by promise in writing to remain in their dwellings 
ready to appear on demand of Council, and meanwhile to re- 
frain from doing any thing inimical to the United States of 
North America, by speaking, writing, or otherwise, and from 
giving intelligence to the Commander-in-chief of the British 
forces, or any other person whatever concerning public affairs, 
you dismiss them from further confinement of their persons. 
But if such engagement, or a promise equivalent thereto, can- 
not be obtained, we desire that in such case you confine the 
refusers, together with the others to whose names the said mark 
is not affixed, in some convenient place, under a guard, with 
which the town major, Colonel Nicola, will supply you. The 
Freemasons' Lodge may perhaps be procured. It would 
serve as well as any other place for the purpose. You may 
perceive that Council would not without necessity commit 
many of the persons to the common jail or even to the state 
prison. 

Resolved, That the following be appointed and authorized to 
carry into execution the resolve of yesterday respecting the 
arresting such persons as are deemed inimical to the cause of 
American liberty, viz. : 

William Bradford, Lazarus Pine, 

William Carson, James Claypole, 

Sharpe Delany, Captain Burney, 

William Heysham, William Graham, 

John Downey, James Kerr, 

John Purviance, William Hardy, 

John Galloway, William Sharpe, 

Joseph Blower, Charles Wilson Peale, 

John Lisle, Captain M'Cullock, 

Paul Coxe, Nathaniel Donnell, 

James Loughead, Robert Smith, 



74 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

Adam Kimmel, Thomas Bradford, 

Jacob Cannon, 
together with such persons as they shall call to their assistance. 

George Bryan, Vice-President. 

The power of search must necessarily extend to the opening 
of locks. 

George Bryan, Vice-President. 

A true copy. 

William Bradford. 

12 o'clock. John Hunt, Israel Pemberton, and Samuel Plea- 
sants, w r ere brought to our apartment as fellow-prisoners. 
They informed us they had been arrested by virtue of the 
general warrant, but having refused to consider themselves 
prisoners, until a copy was granted them, they were suffered to 
continue at large until 11 o'clock to-day; that in the mean 
time they had prepared a remonstrance to the Council against 
their arbitrary proceedings, with which they, together with 
their counsel, attended at the State House, and after repeated 
messages passing between them and the Council, through 
Timothy Matlack, their Secretary, they were finally refused a 
hearing, either by themselves or their counsel, upon which 
they were arrested and conducted to us by Lewis Nicola. The 
copy of the Warrant with the Remonstrance is as follows, viz. 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance of Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and 
Samuel Pleasants, sheweth : 

That Lewis Nicola is about to deprive us of our liberty, by 
an order from you, of which the following is a copy. 

" In Council, September 3d, 1777. 

" Ordered, that Colonel Nicola, town major, do take a pro- 
per guard and seize Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and Samuel 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 75 

Pleasants, and conduct them to the Freemasons' Lodge, and 
there confine them under guard till further orders." 

We are advised, and from our own knowledge of our rights 
and privileges as freemen are assured, that your issuing this 
order is arbitrary, unjust, and illegal, and therefore we believe 
it is our duty, in clear and express terms, to remonstrate 
against it. 

The order appears to be arbitrary, as you have assumed an 
authority not founded on law or reason, to deprive us, who are 
peaceable men, and have never borne arms, of our liberty, by 
a military force, when you might have directed a legal course 
of proceeding. Unjust, as we have not attempted, nor are 
charged with any act inconsistent with the character we have 
steadily maintained as good citizens, solicitous to promote the 
real interest of our country. And that it is illegal, is evident from 
the perusal and consideration of the constitution of the govern- 
ment from which you derive all your authority and power. 

We therefore claim our undoubted right as freemen, having 
a just sense of the inestimable value of religious and civil 
liberty, to be heard, before we are confined in the manner di- 
rected by said order ; and we have the more urgent cause for 
insisting on this our right, as several of our fellow-citizens have 
been some days, and now are confined by your order, arid no 
opportunity is offered them to be heard ; and we have been 
informed that it is your purpose to send them and us into a dis- 
tant part of the country, even beyond the limit of the jurisdic- 
tion you claim, and where the recourse we are justly entitled 
to, of being heard or clearing ourselves from any charge or 
suspicions you may entertain against us will be impracticable. 

We fervently desire you may be so wise as to attend to the 
dictates of truth and justice in your minds, and observe the 
precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you profess to believe 
in. " All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you do you even so to them," (see Matthew vii. 12,) and then 
we have no doubt you will comply with this just claim we 



76 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

make, which will be duly acknowledged by your real friends 

and well-wishers. 

Israel Pemberton, 

John Hunt, 

Samuel Pleasants. 
Philadelphia, 4th of 9th month, 1777. 

The committee for that purpose appointed, reported an essay 
of a remonstrance to Council, which being read, and consi- 
dered, was agreed to, and a fair copy, signed by twenty of us, 
was delivered to James Craig, John Reynell, and Owen Jones, 
who undertook to present it. They returned some time after, 
and informed us they had met with the President (the Council 
being broke up), and delivered it to him ; that he read it, ap- 
peared to be somewhat affected with our situation, but blamed 
us for not accepting the terms of the parole and then remon- 
strating; he promised, however, to lay it before the Council, 
and gave them expectation he would send us an answer by ten 
o'clock to-morrow. 

Having received information from Isaac Melchoir, that he 
was ordered to procure wagons for our removal to Virginia, 
on seventh day next, we thought it prudent to acquaint our 
fellow-citizens with the hardships we were likely to suffer, and 
to publish in a handbill some copies of the remonstrance of our 
friends, John Hunt, Israel Pemberton, and Samuel Pleasants, 
which Robert Bell undertook to print. 

Eight o'clock. Wm. Bradford laid before us a letter he 
received from Timothy Matlack, Secretary to the Council, in- 
forming us of our intended removal to Virginia, and the time 
proposed. This daring insult on our liberties, after refusing to 
hear us, we thought should not be concealed from the people. 
We therefore desired Robert Bell to add to it a short preface 
to the handbill containing the remonstrance above mentioned. 

Considering the unprecedented strides Council was making 
in the total abolition of every species of liberty, and that if 
they were not checked in this outrageous attempt, they might 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 77 

proceed to the greatest extremities in the wanton exercise of 
their power, even to the evacuation and destruction of the city, 
and as no time was to be lost, we concluded to furnish Robert 
Bell with a copy of our remonstrances of this day, which he 
promised to print, so as to disperse a number of them through 
the town by to-morrow noon. 

But, after the remonstrance was written, and previously to 
its being published, William Bradford came, and read us a let- 
ter to him, of which the following is a copy. 

Sir, 

Council have resolved to send the prisoners now confined in 
the Freemasons' Lodge, to Staunton, in the county of Au- 
gusta, in the state of Virginia, there to be secured and treated 
in such manner as shall be consistent with their respective 
characters, and the security of their persons ; which you are 
requested to communicate to them, and inform them that car- 
riages will be provided for their accommodation on the journey, 
unless they choose to provide themselves therewith. It is pro- 
posed they go off on Saturday morning next. 

I am, with great respect, 
Your humble servant, 

Timothy Matlack, 
For Col. Wm. Bradford. Secretary. 

Thursday, Sept. 4th, 1777. 

The above is a true copy of the letter I received this even- 
ing from Timothy Matlack. 

William Bradford. 



TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance of the subscribers, freemen and in- 
habitants of the city of Philadelphia, now confined in the Free- 
masons' Lodge, sheweth : 

That the subscribers have been by virtue of a warrant 
signed in council, by Geo. Bryan, Vice-President, arrested in 



78 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

our houses, and on our lawful occasions, and conducted to 
this place, where we have been kept in close confinement, 
under a strong military guard, two or more days, and although 
divers of us demanded of the messengers who arrested us, and 
insisted on having copies of the said warrant, yet we were not 
able to procure the same until this morning, but have remained 
here unaccused and unheard. 

We now take the earliest opportunity of laying our griev- 
ances before your body from whom we apprehend they pro- 
ceed, and of claiming to ourselves the liberties and privileges 
to which we are entitled, by the fundamental rules of justice, 
by our birthright and inheritance, by the laws of the land, and 
by the express provision of the present constitution, under 
which your board derives its power. 

We apprehend that no man can be lawfully deprived of his 
liberty without a warrant from some persons having competent 
authority, specifying an offence against the laws of the land, 
supported by oath or affirmation of the accusers, and limiting 
the time of his imprisonment, until he is heard, or legally dis- 
charged, unless the party be found in the actual perpetration 
of a crime. Natural justice, equally with law, declares that 
the party accused should know what he is to answer to, and 
have an opportunity of showing his innocence. These prin- 
ciples are strongly enforced in the ninth and tenth sections of 
the Declaration of Rights, which form a fundamental and in- 
violable part of the Constitution from which you derive your 
power, wherein it is declared. 

" IX. — That in all prosecutions for criminal offences, a man 
hath a right to be heard by himself and counsel, and to demand 
the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with 
the witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and a speedy 
public trial by an impartial jury of the country, without the 
unanimous consent of which he cannot be found guilty, nor can 
he be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor can any 
man be justly deprived of his liberty except by the laws of the 
land, or the judgment of his peers. 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 79 

" X. — That the people have a just right to hold themselves, 
their houses and possessions, free from search or seizure, and 
therefore warrants without oath or affirmation first made, 
affording a sufficient foundation for them, and whereby any 
officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search 
suspicious places, or to seize any person or persons, his or 
their property, not particularly described, are contrary to that 
right, and ought not to be granted." 

How far these principles have been adhered to in the course 
of this business, we shall go on to show. 

Upon the examination of the said warrant, we find it is in 
all respects inadequate to these descriptions; altogether un- 
precedented in this or any free country, both in its sub- 
stance and the latitude given to the messengers who were to 
execute it, and wholly subversive of the very constitution you 
profess to support. The only charge on which it is founded, 
is a recommendation of Congress to apprehend and secure all 
persons who in their general conduct and conversation have 
evidenced a disposition inimical to the cause of America, and 
particularly naming some of us ; but not suggesting the least 
offence to have been committed by us. 

It authorizes the messengers to search all papers belonging 
to us, upon a bare possibility that something political may be 
found, but without the least ground for a suspicion of the kind. 
It requires papers relative to the sufferings of the people 
called Quakers to be seized, without limiting the search to any 
house or number of houses, under colour of which every house 
in the city might be broken open. 

To persons whom the Congress have thought proper to 
select, the warrant adds a number of the inhabitants of the 
city, of whom some of us are a part ; without the least in- 
sinuation that they are within the description given by the Con- 
gress in their recommendation. 

It directs all these matters to be executed (though of the 
highest importance to the liberties of the people), at the dis- 
cretion of a set of men who are under no qualification for the 



80 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

due exercise of the office, and are unaccustomed to the forms 
of executing civil process, from whence, probably, have pro- 
ceeded the excesses and irregularities committed by. some of 
them, in divers instances, by refusing to give copies of the 
process to the parties interested ; by denying some of us a 
reasonable time to consider of answers, and prepare for con- 
finement. In the absence of others, by breaking our desks and 
other private repositories, and by ransacking and carrying off 
all domestic papers, printed books, and other matters not within 
the terms of the warrant. It limits no time for the duration of 
our imprisonment, nor points out any hearing, which is abso- 
lutely requisite to make a legal warrant, but confounds in one 
warrant the power to apprehend and the authority to commit, 
without interposing a judicial officer between the parties and 
the messenger. 

Upon the whole, we consider this warrant and the proceed- 
ing thereon, to be far more dangerous in its tendency, and a 
more flagrant violation of every right which is dear to freemen, 
than any act which is to be found in the records of the English 
Constitution. 

But, when we consider the use to which this general warrant 
has been applied, and the persons upon whom it has been 
executed, (who challenge the world to charge them with 
offence,) it becomes of too great magnitude to be considered 
the cause of the few. It is the cause of every inhabitant, and 
may, if permitted to pass into a precedent, establish a system 
of arbitrary pow 7 er, unknown but in the Inquisition, or the 
despotic courts of the East. 

What adds further to the alarming stretch of power is, that 
we are informed that the Vice-President of the Council has de- 
clared to one of the magistrates of the city, who called on him 
to inquire the cause of our confinement, that we w 7 ere to be 
sent to Virginia unheard. 

Scarcely could we believe such a declaration could have 
been made by a person who fills the second place in the govern- 
ment, till we were this day confirmed in the melancholy truth 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 81 

by three of the subscribers, whom you absolutely refused to 
hear in person or by counsel. We would remind you of com- 
plaints urged by numbers of yourselves against the Parliament 
of Great Britain, for condemning the town of Boston unheard, 
and we will call upon you to reconcile your present conduct 
with your then professions or repeated declarations in favour 
of general liberty. 

In the name, therefore, of the whole body of the freemen of 
Pennsylvania, whose liberties are radically struck at, by this 
arbitrary imprisonment of us, their unoffending fellow-citizens, 
we demand an audience, that so our innocence may appear 
and persecution give place to justice. 

But, if regardless of every sacred obligation by which men 
are bound to each other in society, and by that constitution by 
which you profess to govern, which you have so loudly magni- 
fied for the free spirit it breathes, you are still determined to 
proceed, be the appeal to the Righteous Judge of all the earth, 
for the integrity of our hearts and the unparalleled tyranny of 
your measures. 

James Pemberton, Thomas Affleck, 

Thomas Wharton, Charles Jervis, 

Edward Pennington, William Smith, (broker,) 

Henry Drinker, William Druit Smith, 

Phineas Bond, Thomas Fisher, 

Thomas Gilpin, Miers Fisher, 

Thomas Combe, Charles Eddy, 

John Pemberton, Israel Pemberton, 

Thomas Pike, John Hunt, 

Owen Jones, jun., Samuel Pleasants. 

Masons' Lodge, Philadelphia, September 4, 1777. 

The guards, for these two days past, have behaved with 
complaisance, admitting every person who called to see us 
without distinction, which occasioned a great resort of com- 
pany of the most respectable fellow-citizens, who were per- 

6 



82 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

mitted to go in and out of the house without attendants, and 
several of our company to their homes for a short time. 

9th month, 5th. — This day, those who were named to make 
an address to Congress, took into consideration the propriety 
of remonstrating to them the demand to be heard ; and accord- 
ingly prepared a remonstrance, which they signed, and then 
laid it before us, giving us our choice to join with them therein, 
by adding a paragraph at the foot, adapted to our case, which 
we thought unnecessary ; whereupon, it was presented by John 
Reynell and Owen Jones ; being as follows, viz. : 

TO THE CONGRESS. 

The remonstrance of the subscribers, citizens of Philadelphia, 
sheweth : 

That we are confined now by a military guard, having been 
arrested and deprived of our liberty, by order of the President 
and Council of Pennsylvania, in consequence of a resolve made 
by you on the twenty-eighth day of last month, " Recommend- 
ing to the executive powers of the several States, to apprehend 
and secure all persons who have in their general conduct and 
conversation evinced a disposition inimical to the cause of 
America, and particularly naming the subscribers, together 
with all such papers in our possession as may be of a political 
nature." The copy of which resolve we could not obtain till 
yesterday afternoon. 

Conscious of our innocence and that we have given no just 
occasion to have our characters thus traduced and injuriously 
treated, we have remonstrated to the said President and Coun- 
cil, against their arbitrary, unjust, and illegal proceeding 
against us, and demanded our undoubted right of being heard 
by them, knowing we can manifest the falsehood and injustice 
of any injurious charge or suspicion they or you may entertain 
concerning us; but we are denied the opportunity of such a 
hearing, and were last evening informed, by their order, that 
they have resolved to send us to Staunton, in the county of 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 83 

Augusta, in Virginia, and we are now told that place is ap- 
pointed by you for our confinement. 

We, therefore, by our love to our country, whose true in- 
terest and prosperity we have steadily pursued through the 
course of our conduct and conversation, and in justice to our 
characters as freemen and Christians, with that freedom and 
resolution which influences men conscious of being void of 
just cause of offence, are bound to remonstrate against your 
arbitrary, unjust, and cruel treatment of us, our characters, and 
families, and against the course of proceedings you have chosen 
and prescribed, by which the liberty, property, and character, 
of every freeman in America, is or may be endangered. 

Most of you are not personally known to us, nor are we to 
you. Few of you have had the opportunity of conversing with 
any of us, or of knowing any thing more of our conduct and 
conversation than what you have received from others ; and 
thus we are subjected to the unjust suspicions you have enter- 
tained, from the uncertain reports of our adversaries, and are 
condemned unheard, to be deprived of our most endearing con- 
nexions and temporal enjoyments, when our personal care of 
them is most immediately necessary. 

We are therefore engaged in the most solemn manner to call 
upon you, and entreat you to reconsider well upon the course 
of your proceedings respecting us, and either by yourselves, or 
the said President and Council, to give us the opportunity of a 
hearing, and answering every matter suggested to, and enter- 
tained by you or them against us ; being assured we shall ap- 
pear to be true friends to, and to be anxiously solicitous for the 
prosperity of America, upon the principles of justice and liberty ; 
and though we are clearly convinced, from the precepts of 
Christ, the doctrines of his Apostles, and the example of his 
followers, in the primitive ages of Christianity, that all outward 
wars and fightings are unlawful, and therefore, cannot join 
therein for any cause whatever, we cannot but remind you that 
we are by the same principle restrained from pursuing any 
measures inconsistent with the Apostles' advice, " to live 



84 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA 

peaceably with all men," under whatever power it is our lot to 
live, which rule of conduct we are determined to observe what- 
ever you or any others may determine concerning us. 

Your characters, in the conspicuous station you stand, and 
the due regard to the liberties, properties, and even lives, of 
those whoever may be afflicted by the course of your proceed- 
ings, so loudly proclaim the justice of our demands for a hear- 
ing, that if more time remained for it, we judge further reason- 
ing unnecessary, beseeching you to remember that we are all 
to appear before the tribunal of Divine Justice, there to render 
an account of our actions, and receive a reward according as 
our works have been, and we sincerely desire for you, as we 
do for ourselves, that we may all so direct our course, that we 
may at that tribunal receive the answer of " well done," and 
enjoy the reward of eternal peace and happiness. 

Israel Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 

James Pemberton, Thomas Fisher, 

John Pemberton, Samuel Pleasants, 

Thomas Wharton, Samuel R. Fisher. 

Philadelphia, 5th day of 9th month, 1777. 

At noon. Elijah Brown was brought here a prisoner by vir- 
tue of a general warrant. 

On conferring together, it was thought necessary to lay a 
state of our case before the people, who are equally interested 
with us in the struggle. Thomas Wharton, Phineas Bond, and 
Miers Fisher, are appointed a committee to prepare an essay. 

At seven o'clock, p. m., William Bradford delivered us the 
following letter he had received from Timothy Matlack, w T hich 
being read was taken into consideration, and it appearing to 
be intended as an evasion of giving us a hearing by proposing 
tests, Thomas Wharton and Miers Fisher were appointed a 
committee to prepare an essay of another remonstrance to the 
President and Council on the subject. 

The following letter of Timothy Matlack to William Brad- 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 85 

ford, we suppose to be an answer of Council to our second re- 
monstrance of September 4th, 1777. 

Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1777. 
Sir, 

A remonstrance signed by the gentlemen confined in the 
Masons' Lodge, having been presented to Council and read, 
the Council took the same into consideration, and asked, the 
advice of Congress thereupon, which being received, the 
Council thereupon passed the following resolve, which we beg 
the favour of you to communicate to the aforesaid gentlemen. 

In Council, Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1777. Resolved, That 
such of the persons now confined in the Lodge, as shall take 
or subscribe the oath or affirmation required by law, in this 
commonwealth ; or that shall take and subscribe the following 
oath or affirmation, to wit : 

"1 do swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true 
allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as a free 
and independent State," — shall be discharged. 

I am, respectfully, your very humble servant, 

Timothy Matlack, 

Secretary. 

To Colonel Wm. Bradford. 

The committee appointed to prepare an address to the peo- 
ple, reported an essay, which was, with some amendments, 
agreed to, and a fair copy transcribed and signed. It was 
proposed to insert the same in the Evening Post ; the printer 
being sent for, a conversation ensued which we thought it 
might be proper to add hereafter by way of postscript to our 
address. In the evening we sent for Robert Bell, and agreed 
with him to publish it in a pamphlet, as follows, to wit. 



86 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



AN ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS OF 
PENNSYLVANIA, 

By those Freemen of the City of Philadelphia, who are now 
confined in the Masons' Lodge by virtue of a General Warrant. 
Signed in Council by the Vice President of the Council of 
Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia, printed by Robert Bell, Third Street, 1777. 



" The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind 
arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. 

" In order to have this liberty, it is requisite that the govern- 
ment be so constituted that one man need not be afraid of 
another. 

" When the legislative or executive bodies are united in the 
same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be 
no liberty; because apprehensions may arise lest the same 
monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute 
them in a tyrannical manner." — Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, 
book ix. ch. vi. 



Having in the course of the present week, laid before the 
public, some remonstrances which our present situation called 
on us to make to the President and Council, and in which we 
conceived you were equally (though not so immediately) con- 
cerned with ourselves, and perceiving that advantage is taken 
of our situation, to represent us to you, as men dangerous to 
the community: we think ourselves bound by the duty we owe 
to our country, — to our families, — to those who have heretofore 
held us in esteem, — and to the general welfare of society, to ad- 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 87 

dress you, and lay before you a particular statement of a most 
dangerous attack, which has been made upon the cause of civil 
and religious freedom, by confining, and attempting to banish 
from their tenderest connexions, a number of men who can, 
without boasting, claim to themselves the characters of upright 
and good citizens. 

For some time past, it has been a subject of public conver- 
sation, that lists were made out of great numbers of the citi- 
zens of Philadelphia, who were to be confined for offences 
supposed to have been committed against the interests of Ame- 
rica. These reports were generally supposed to arise from 
intemperate zeal and personal animosities; and until the at- 
tempt, which creates the necessity of calling your attention to 
us, little regard seemed to be paid to them. 

But a few days since the scene opened, and we the subscri- 
bers were called upon by persons, not known as public officers 
of justice, to put our names to a paper, "promising not to de- 
part from our dwelling-houses, and to be ready to appear, on 
the demand of the President and Council of the State of Penn- 
sylvania, and to engage to refrain from doing any thing inju- 
rious to the United Free States of North America, by speaking, 
writing, or otherwise, and from giving intelligence to the com- 
mander of the British forces, or any other person whatever, 
concerning public affairs." 

Conscious of our innocence in respect to the charges insinu- 
ated in this paper against us, and unwilling to part with the 
liberty of breathing the free air, and following our lawful busi- 
ness beyond the narrow limits of our houses, disclaiming to 
be considered in so odious a light, as men who by crimes had 
forfeited our common and inherent rights, we refused to be- 
come voluntary prisoners, and rejected the proposal. We de- 
manded with that boldness which is inseparable from innocence, 
to know by what authority they acted, of what crimes we 
were accused meriting such treatment ; and though to some 
of us the small satisfaction was given, of acquainting us they 
acted in pursuance of a recommendation of Congress, and to 



88 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

others was read part of a warrant from the President and 
Council, yet not one of us was allowed the indisputable right 
of either reading or copying it. Although the great number of 
messengers employed in the execution of this warrant, and of 
the persons who were the objects of it, varied some of the cir- 
cumstances attending it, yet the general tenor of their conduct 
was uniform, and marks the spirit which actuated them. We 
were all, upon our refusal to subscribe, either immediately, or 
in some short time conducted to this place, where we remained 
in close confinement, under a military guard, for twenty-four 
hours, expecting to be informed of the cause of our being 
taken, and to have an opportunity of defending ourselves ; but 
finding no notice taken of us by our persecutors, we at length 
unitedly demanded of one of the principal messengers, a copy 
of the warrant, by virtue of wmich we were seized, in order 
that we might know from thence, what heinous crimes were 
charged on us, to justify such rigorous treatment. After con- 
sulting his employers, and causing some delay, he thought pro- 
per to grant our demand ; but how were we astonished to 
find a general warrant, specifying no manner of offence against 
us, appointing no authority to hear and judge whether we were 
guilty or innocent, nor limiting any duration to our confine- 
ment. Nor was this extraordinary warrant more exceptiona- 
ble in these respects, than in the powers given to the messen- 
gers to break and search not only our own, but all the houses 
their heated imaginations might lead them to suspect. It would 
be tedious to remark all the gross enormities contained in this 
engine of modern despotism ; we therefore present you with a 
copy, from a bare perusal of which you will form a better idea 
of the arbitrary spirit it breathes, than from any description 
we could possibly give of it. 

IN COUNCIL. 

Philadelphia, August 31, 1777. 

Whereas, the Congress of the United States of North Ame- 
rica, have by their resolve of the 28th instant, August, recom- 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 89 

mended to the executive powers of the several States, to ap- 
prehend and secure all persons, who have in their general con- 
duct and conversation evidenced a disposition inimical to the 
cause of America, particularly, Joshua Fisher, Abel James, 
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Israel Pemberton, John 
Pemberton, John James, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Wharton, 
sen., Thomas Fisher, and Samuel Fisher, (sons of Joshua,) to- 
gether with all such papers in their possession as may be of a 
political nature, and that the persons so seized be confined in 
such places, and treated in such manner, as shall be consistent 
with their respective characters, and the security of their per- 
sons, — and that the records and papers of the Meetings of Suffer- 
ings of the Society of the people called Quakers, in the several 
States, be forthwith secured, and such parts of them as may be 
of a political nature, be forthwith transmitted to Congress. 
And whereas, it is necessary for the public safety at this time, 
when a British army has landed in Maryland, with a professed 
design of enslaving this free country, and is now advancing 
toward this city, as a principal object of hostility, that such 
dangerous persons be accordingly secured, therefore, resolved, 
that a suitable number of the friends to the public cause, be 
authorized forthwith to seize and secure the persons of the said 

* Joshua Fisher, *Thomas Fisher, son of Joshua, 

*Thomas Wharton, sen., ^Samuel Fisher, son of Joshua, 

*Henry Drinker, # Joseph Fox, 

John James, ^Samuel Shoemaker, 

*Miers Fisher, William Druit Smith, 

*Adam Kuhn, M. D., Alexander Stedman, 

*George Roberts, Charles Stedman, jun., 

# Rev. Thomas Combe, *Owen Jones, jun., 

*Charles Jervis, William Lennox, 

^Samuel Pleasants, *Caleb Emlen, 

*James Pemberton, *Charles Eddy, 

*John Pemberton, *Thomas Pike, 

*Israel Pemberton, *Thomas Ashton, merchant, 



90 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



^Samuel Emlen, *SamueI Jackson, 

*Hugh Roberts, William Smith, broker, 

*William Smith, D. D., William Inlay, 

*John Hunt, * Jeremiah Warder, 

*Samuel Murdock, *Thomas Gilpin, 

*Abel James, # Edward Pennington, 

Elijah Brown, *Thomas Affleck. 
*Phineas Bond, 

Resolved, That the following instructions be also given: 
Early attention should be given to John Hunt, who lives on 
the Germantown Road, about five miles off the city, and to 
John Pemberton, Samuel Emlen, and other leaders in the 
Society of Quakers, concerning books and papers ; as to the 
rest, your own prudence must direct. 

Congress recommends it, and we wish to treat men of repu- 
tation with as much tenderness as the security of their persons 
and papers will admit. We desire, therefore, that if the 
persons whose names in the list are marked thus # , offer to you 
by a promise in writing to remain in their dwelling-houses 
ready to appear on demand of Council, and meanwhile to re- 
frain from doing any thing injurious to the United Free States 
of North America, by speaking, writing, or otherwise, and from 
giving intelligence to the Commander-in-chief of the British 
forces, or any other person whatever concerning public affairs, 
you dismiss them from further confinement of their persons. 
But if such engagement, or a promise equivalent thereto, can- 
not be obtained, we desire that in such case you confine the 
refusers, together with the others to whose names the said mark 
is not prefixed, in some convenient place, under a guard, with 
which the town major, Colonel Nicola, will supply you. The 
Freemasons' Lodge may perhaps be procured ; it would serve 
as well as any other place for this purpose. You may per- 
ceive that Council would not without necessity commit many 
of the persons to the common jail or even to the state prison. 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. \) 1 

Resolved, That the following persons be appointed and au- 
thorized to carry into execution the resolve of yesterday respect- 
ing the arresting such persons as are deemed inimical to the 
cause of American liberty, viz. : 

William Bradford, Lazarus Pine, 

William Carson, James Claypole, 

Sharpe Delany, Captain Burney, 

William Heysham, William Graham, 

John Downey, James Kerr, 

John Purviance, William Hardy, 

John Galloway, William Tharpe, 

Joseph Blower, Charles Wilson Peale, 

John Lisle, Captain M'Cullock, 

Paul Coxe, Nathaniel Donnell, 

James Loughead, Robert Smith, 

Adam Kimmel, Thomas Bradford, 
James Cannon, 
together with such persons as they shall call to their assistance. 

George Bryan, Vice-President. 

The power of search must necessarily extend to the opening 
of locks. 

George Bryan, Vice-President. 

A true copy. 

William Bradford. 

You will observe that the President and Council, who know 
our characters, and to whom (but for their prejudice and want 
of candour in this instance), we could have appealed for the 
innocence of our conduct and conversation, have not under- 
taken to charge us with any offence, but rely as a founda- 
tion for their proceedings, on the information contained in a 
recommendation of Congress, to whom the greater part of us 
are scarcely known but by name, and who must have formed 



92 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

the hard judgment they pronounced against us unheard f from 
reports whispered by our enemies. 

Can any thing more decisively evidence the want of proof 
against us, and the injustice of the insinuations, than this stub- 
born incontrovertible fact 1 We have demanded as a matter 
of right, to be heard before both those bodies, who have 
hitherto declined it. A demand reasonable in itself, founded 
on the immutable principles of equity, and warranted by the 
constitution under which the Council derive every power they 
claim. 

The powers granted by this warrant are such, as in any free 
country, where the laws and not the will of the governors, are 
the standard of justice, would be reprobated, as overturning 
every security that men can rely on. Your houses, which by 
the law of the land, are your castles against invaders, your 
chambers, your closets, your desks, the repositories of your 
deeds, your securities, your letters of business or friendship, 
and other domestic concerns, which every man naturally wishes 
to keep within the circle of his own family, are permitted to 
be broken, searched, exposed to the prying eye of malignant 
curiosity, and all this without any well-founded cause of sus- 
picion. This is not declamation, nor an idle apprehension of 
imaginary grievances, but a true representation of what some 
of us have experienced, in the execution of this unprecedented 
commission. Nor can any man think himself safe, from the 
like, or perhaps more mischievous effects, if a precedent of so 
extraordinary a nature, be established by a tame acquiescence 
with the present wrong. 

By perusing the following remonstrance, made to the Coun- 
cil, by three of us, you will find that application was made for 
relief from our oppressions. 

A remonstrance this day presented to the President and 
Council by the hands of their secretary. 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance of Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and 
Samuel Pleasants, sheweth : 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 93 

That Lewis Nicola is about to deprive us of our liberty, by 
an order from you, of which the following is a copy, viz. : 

" In Council, September 3d, 1777. 
" Ordered, that Colonel Nicola, town major, do take a pro- 
per guard and seize Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and Samuel 
Pleasants, and conduct them to the Freemasons' Lodge, and 
there confine them under guard till further orders." 

We are advised, and from our own knowledge of our rights 
and privileges as freemen, are assured, that your issuing this 
order is arbitrary, unjust, and illegal, and we therefore believe 
it is our duty, in clear and express terms, to remonstrate 
against it. 

The order appears to be arbitrary, as you have assumed an 
authority not founded on law or reason, to deprive us, who are 
peaceable men, and have never borne arms, of our liberty, by 
a military force, when you might have directed a legal course 
of proceeding. Unjust, as we have not attempted, nor are 
charged with any act inconsistent with the character we have 
steadily maintained as good citizens, solicitous to promote the 
real interest and prosperity of our country. And that it is illegal, 
is evident from the perusal and consideration of the constitution 
of the government from which you derive all your authority 
and power. 

We therefore claim our undoubted right as freemen, having a 
just sense of the inestimable value of religious and civil liberty, 
to be heard, before we are confined in the manner directed 
by the said order; and we have the more urgent cause for 
insisting on this our right, as several of our fellow-citizens have 
been some days, and are now confined by your order, and no 
opportunity is given them to be heard ; and we have been 
informed that it is your purpose to send them and us into a dis- 
tant part of the country, even beyond the limits of the jurisdic- 
tion you claim, and where the recourse we are justly and law- 
fully entitled to, of being heard and of clearing ourselves from 
any charge or suspicions you may entertain respecting us will 
be impracticable. 



94 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



We fervently desire you may be so wise as to attend to the 
dictates of truth and justice in your own minds, and observe the 
precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you profess to believe 
in—" All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do you even so unto them," (Matthew vii. 12,) and then 
we have no doubt you will comply with this just claim we 
make, which will be duly acknowledged by your real friends 
and well-wishers. 

Israel Pemberton, 
John Hunt, 
Samuel Pleasants. 
Philadelphia, 4th of 9th month, 1777. 

We, the subscribers, attended at the door of the Council 
chamber, and made application, by the Secretary, to be ad- 
mitted, in order to deliver our remonstrance, to which we 
could, after repeated applications, obtain no other answer than 
that " Council had issued the arrest in consequence of a resolve 
of Congress, and cannot now admit you to be heard." 

We therefore delivered our remonstrance to the Secretary, 
and waited until he came out on another occasion, and told us 
" it had been read to the Council, and they afterwards pro- 
ceeded to other business which was before them." Imme- 
diately after which we were conducted by Lewis Nicola to 
the Freemasons' Lodge, where we are now confined, with a 
number of our fellow-citizens, with whom we have joined in a 
more full remonstrance to the President and Council ; and this 
evening William Bradford came to us, and read to us a letter 
of which the following is a copy, viz. : 

Sir, 

Council have resolved to send the prisoners now r confined in 
the Freemasons' Lodge, to Staunton, in the county of Au- 
gusta, in the state of Virginia, there to be secured and treated 
in such manner as shall be consistent with their respective 
characters, and the security of their persons ; which you are 
requested to communicate to them, and inform them that car- 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 95 

riages will be provided for their accommodation on the journey, 
unless they choose to provide themselves therewith. It is pro- 
posed they go off Saturday morning next. 

I am, with great respect, 
Your humble servant, 

Timothy Matlack, 
For Col. Wm. Bradford. Secretary. 

Thursday, Sept. 4th, 1777. 

The above is a true copy of the letter I received this even- 
ing from Timothy Matlack. 

William Bradford. 

By the letter published at the foot of it, you will see what are 
the ideas of justice entertained by the Council. Instead of the 
required hearing — to avoid such application, they resolved to 
banish us unheard, into an obscure corner of a country nearly 
three hundred miles distant from our parents, our wives, our 
children, our dear and tender connexions, friends, and acquaint- 
ance, to whom we owe, and from whom we expect protection, 
assistance, comfort, and every endearing office, to a country, 
where the President and Council have no pretence of jurisdic- 
tion, from whence we may be liable to be further banished. 

Before the receipt of that letter, we had prepared and sent 
the following remonstrance : 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance of the subscribers, freemen and in- 
habitants of the city of Philadelphia, now confined in the Free- 
masons' Lodge, 
Sheweth : 

That the subscribers have been by virtue of a warrant 
signed in Council, by George Bryan, Vice-President, arrested 
in our houses, and on our lawful occasions, and conducted to 
this place, where we have been kept in close confinement, 
under a strong military guard, tw T o or more days; and although 



96 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

divers of us demanded of the messengers who arrested us, and 
insisted on having copies of the said warrant, yet we were not 
able to procure the same till this present time, but have re- 
mained here unaccused and unheard. 

We now take the earliest opportunity of laying our griev- 
ances before your body, from whom we apprehend they pro- 
ceed, and of claiming to ourselves the liberties and privileges 
to which we are entitled, by the fundamental rules of justice — 
by our birthright and inheritance — by the laws of the land — and 
by the express provision of the present constitution, under 
which your board derives their power. 

We apprehend that no man can lawfully be deprived of his 
liberty without a warrant from some persons having competent 
authority, specifying an offence against the laws of the land, 
supported by oath or affirmation of the accuser, and limiting 
the time of his imprisonment, until he is heard, or legally dis- 
charged, unless the party be found in the actual perpetration 
of a crime. Natural justice, equally with law, declares that 
the party accused should know what he is to answer to, and 
have an opportunity of showing his innocence. These prin- 
ciples are strongly enforced in the ninth and tenth sections of 
the Declaration of Rights, which form a fundamental and in- 
violable part of the Constitution from which you derive your 
power, wherein it is declared — 

" IX. — That in all prosecutions for criminal offences, a man 
hath a right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to demand 
the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with 
the witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour, and a speedy 
public trial by an impartial jury of the country, without the 
unanimous consent of which jury he cannot be found guilty, 
nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor 
can any man be justly deprived of his liberty except by the 
laws of the land, or the judgment of his peers. 

"X. — That the people have a right to hold themselves, their 
houses, papers, and possessions, free from search or seizure, and 
therefore warrants without oaths or affirmations first made, 
affording a sufficient foundation for them, and whereby any 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 97 

officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search 
suspected places, or to seize any person or persons, his or 
their property, not particularly described, are contrary to that 
right, and ought not to be granted." 

How far these principles have been adhered to in the course 
of this business, we shall go on to show. 

Upon the examination of the said warrant, we find it. is in 
ail respects inadequate to these descriptions; altogether un- 
precedented in this or any other free country, both in its sub- 
stance and the latitude given to the messengers who were to 
execute it, and wholly subversive of the very constitution you 
profess to support. The only charge on which it is founded, 
is a recommendation of Congress to apprehend and secure all 
persons who in their general conduct and conversation have 
evidenced a disposition inimical to the cause of America, and 
particularly naming some of us ; but not suggesting the least 
offence to have been committed by us. 

It authorizes the messengers to search all papers belonging 
to us, upon a bare possibility that something political may be 
found, but without the least ground for a suspicion of the kind. 

It requires papers relative to the sufferings of the people 
called Quakers to be seized, without limiting the search to any 
house or number of houses, under colour of which every house 
in the city might be broken open. 

To the persons whom the Congress have thought proper to 
select, the warrant adds a number of the inhabitants of the 
city, of whom some of us are part ; without the least insinua- 
tion that they are within the description given by the Congress 
in their recommendation. 

It directs all these matters to be executed (though of the 
highest importance to the liberties of the people), at the dis- 
cretion of a set of men who are under no qualification for the 
due execution of the office, and are unaccustomed to the forms 
of executing civil process, from whence, probably, have pro- 
ceeded the excesses and irregularities committed by some of 
them, in divers instances, by refusing to give copies of the 

7 



98 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

process to the parties arrested ; by denying some of us a 
reasonable time to consider of answers, and prepare for con- 
finement. In the absence of others, by breaking our desks and 
other private repositories, and by ransacking and carrying off 
domestic papers, printed books, and other matters not within 
the terms of the warrant. It limits no time for the duration of 
our imprisonment, nor points at any hearing, which is an abso- 
lute requisite to make a legal warrant, but confounds in one 
warrant the power to apprehend and the authority to commit, 
without interposing a judicial officer between the parties and 
the messenger. 

Upon the whole, we conceive this warrant and the proceed- 
ings thereupon, to be far more dangerous in its tendency, and a 
more flagrant violation of every right which is dear to freemen, 
than any act that can be found in the records of the English 
Constitution. 

But, when we consider the use to which this general warrant 
has been applied, and the persons upon whom it has been 
executed, (who challenge the world to charge them with 
offence,) it becomes of too great magnitude to be considered 
as the cause of a few. It is the cause of every inhabitant, and 
may, if permitted to pass into a precedent, establish a system 
of arbitrary power, unknown but in the Inquisition, or the 
despotic courts of the East. 

What adds further to the alarming stretch of power is, that 
we are informed that the Vice-President of the Council has de- 
clared to one of the magistrates of the city, who called on him 
to inquire into the cause of our confinement, that we were to 
be sent to Virginia unheard. 

Scarcely could we believe such a declaration could have 
been made by a person who fills the second place in the govern- 
ment, till we were this day confirmed in the melancholy truth 
by three of the subscribers, whom you absolutely refused to 
hear in person, or by counsel. We would remind you of the 
complaints urged by numbers of yourselves against the Par- 
liament of Great Britain, for condemning the town of Boston 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 99 

unheard, and we call upon you to reconcile your present con- 
duct with your then professions, or your repeated declarations 
in favour of general liberty. 

In the name therefore of the whole body of the freemen of 
Pennsylvania, whose liberties are radically struck at in this 
arbitrary imprisonment of us, their unoffending fellow-citizens, 
we demand an audience, that so our innocence may appear, 
and persecution give place to justice. But if, regardless of 
every sacred obligation by which men are bound to each other 
in society, and of that constitution by which you profess to 
govern, which you have so loudly magnified for the free spirit 
it breathes, you are still determined to proceed, be the appeal 
to the righteous Judge of all the earth, for the integrity of our 
hearts, and the unparalleled tyranny of your measures. 
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 

Thomas Wharton, Phineas Bond, 

Thomas Combe, Thomas Gilpin, 

Edward Pennington, John Pemberton, 

Thomas Pike, Thomas Fisher, 

Owen Jones, jun., Miers Fisher, 

Thomas Affleck, Charles Eddy, 

Charles Jervis, Israel Pemberton, 

William Smith, (broker,) John Hunt, 

William Druit Smith, Samuel Pleasants, 

Masons' Lodge, Philadelphia, 

September 4th, 1777. 

N. B. — The three last subscribers were first attended 5 by 
some of those who executed the general warrant ; but after 
their remonstrance to the President and Council, were arrested 
by Lewis Nicola, and conducted to the Lodge, by a special 
order to him. 

The foregoing remonstrance was delivered to Thomas 
Wharton, Jr., President, &c, last evening, who promised to lay 
it before Council, and send an answer to one of the gentlemen, 
who delivered it to him this morning ; but no answer has yet 
been received. 

September 5th, half-past two o'clock, r. m. 



100 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Thus the matter rested till about seven o'clock yesterday 
evening, when instead of returning an answer to our repeated 
demand of an hearing, which we still adhere to as our un- 
doubted right, the Secretary of the Council enclosed to William 
Bradford a copy of a new resolve, desiring him to acquaint 
us with it; wherein, without the least mention of supporting 
their insinuations against us, they shift the ground on which 
they set out, and propose a test to be taken by us, in full satis- 
faction of all their suspicions. 

To this resolve we are preparing an answer, which we in- 
tend soon to lay before them ; and in the mean time, we beg 
you will avoid the being influenced by any anonymous publica- 
tions, which our adversaries, to draw our attention from the 
immediate object before us may utter against us, filled with 
falsehoods and misrepresentations, which it is apparent the 
authors would never have published, if they were not assured 
the printers would conceal their names. 

Our attention is now engaged in a most important struggle 
for civil and religious liberty ; we therefore hope you will not 
expect us to waste that time in refuting such anonymous per- 
formances, which is wholly requisite for bringing this grand 
point to a proper conclusion. We cannot, however, wholly 
pass by a publication in the last Evening's Post, calculated to 
throw an odium on the just cause in which we are suffering. 
It is represented in that piece, that the Quakers are the prin- 
cipal objects of resentment, and the cause assigned is the 
issuing "seditious publications called testimonies," one of which 
they assert has been unseasonably published at two critical 
periods, 

A single ray of Christian charity would be sufficient to show 
the uncandid construction put by that writer upon the exercise 
of those religious rights secured by the Constitution to every 
religious society, of warning and admonishing their members 
to avoid every thing inconsistent with the principles they hold. 
It is well known, that at both the times hinted at, contending 
armies were endeavouring within the circle of their yearly 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 101 

meeting, to procure all persons that should come in their way 
to join them in military preparations. 

The testimony of the Quakers is against all wars and fight- 
ing, and against entering into military engagements of any 
kind ; surely then, it was the right of the representatives of 
that Society, to caution their members from engaging in any 
thing contrary to their religious principles. But if it be an 
offence in those who were active in that publication, what have 
those of us done who are not members of that Society, who 
are of the Church of England (which two denominations 
comprehend all the subscribers), and who have published no 
testimonies 1 

But this cannot be considered by the writer as a dangerous 
publication, or why does he republish it in the present critical 
situation of public affairs 1 Surely this charge is a mere pretence 
to vilify a respectable body of the inhabitants. 

Thus we have furnished you with a calm and dispassionate 
account of our present circumstances, and we wish to have it 
considered as a vindication of our own characters, and a 
peaceable though firm assertion of the inalienable rights of 
freemen. 

Difficulties may perhaps await us, but relying on the assist- 
ance of that Almighty Being who is the guardian of the 
innocent, we prepare to meet them, rather than endanger 
public happiness and freedom, by a voluntary surrender of 
those rights which we have never forfeited. 

Masons' Lodge, September 6th, 1777. 

Israel Pemberton, Phineas Bond, 

John Hunt, Miers Fisher, 

James Pemberton, Thomas Fisher, 

Thomas Wharton, Samuel R. Fisher, 

John Pemberton, Thomas Affleck, 

Thomas Coombe, Charles Jervis, 

Edward Pennington, William Smith, (broker,) 

Henry Drinker, Thomas Pike, 



102 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



Samuel Pleasants, William Druit Smith, 

Thomas Gilpin, Elijah Brown, 

Charles Eddy, Owen Jones, Jr. 

P. S. — The foregoing address was prepared, and intended 
for publication in the Evening Post of the 6th instant ; but 
before we thought proper to deliver it to the printer, we chose 
to have some conversation with him. He was sent for and 
attended us. We told him we had a paper to publish in our vin- 
dication, with our names signed ; that as we were confined on 
some suspicions unknown to us, it was hard we should be 
attacked by anonymous writers in the papers, our characters 
aspersed, and prejudices excited against us, when we were 
demanding a hearing, which ought to be unbiassed and im- 
partial. We therefore required of him, as what we thought a 
matter of right, according to the rules of every impartial free 
press, that he would refrain from publishing hereafter any 
anonymous papers reflecting upon us, and that he would 
acquaint us with the name of the writer of two paragraphs, in 
the then last Post, highly injurious to our characters. To the 
former he gave us an absolute promise to adhere ; to the latter 
he said that he could not give up the name without the writer's 
consent ; that he would go to him and return with his answer 
as soon as he could, at the same time promised that if we desired 
it he would insert our address in the Post of that evening, 
though it would delay its appearance till some time the next day. 
He went away, and we have not since heard from him. Hence 
we conclude the writer is ashamed to avow the performance. 

We now lay before you a remonstrance presented to Con- 
gress by eight of us, who were selected by them, and recom- 
mended to the Council as dangerous men, who ought to be 
secured, the rest of us being named by the Council themselves, 
and included together with them in the general warrant. 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 103 



TO THE CONGRESS. 



The remonstrance of the subscribers, citizens of Philadel- 
phia, sheweth : 

That we are confined by a military guard, having been 
arrested and deprived of our liberty, by order of the President 
and Council of Pennsylvania, in consequence of a resolve made 
by you, on the 28th day of the last month, " recommending to 
the executive powers of the several states, to apprehend and 
secure all persons who have in their general conduct and con- 
versation evidenced a disposition inimical to the cause of 
America," and particularly naming us, the subscribers, " to- 
gether with all such papers, in our possession, as may be of a 
political nature ;" the copy of which resolve we could not 
obtain till yesterday afternoon. 

Conscious of our innocence, and that we have ministered no 
just occasion to have our characters thus traduced, and in- 
juriously treated, we have remonstrated to the said President 
and Council, against their arbitrary, unjust, and illegal pro- 
ceedings against us, and demanded our undoubted right of 
being heard by them ; knowing we can manifest the falsehood 
and injustice of any injurious charge, or suspicions, they or 
you may entertain concerning us ; but we are denied the oppor- 
tunity of such a hearing, and were last evening informed, by 
their order, that they have resolved to send us to Staunton, in 
the county of Augusta, in Virginia, to be secured there ; and 
we are now told that place is appointed by you, for our con- 
finement. 

We therefore, by our love to our country, whose true interest 
and prosperity we have steadily pursued, through the course of 
our conduct and conversations, and in justice to our characters, 
as freemen and Christians, with that freedom and resolution 
which influences men conscious of being void of just cause of 
offence, are bound to remonstrate against your arbitrary, unjust, 
and cruel treatment of us, our characters and families, and 



104 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

against the course of proceeding you have chose and pre- 
scribed ; by which the liberty, property, and character ot 
every freeman in America is or may be endangered. Most of 
you are not personally known to us, nor are we to you ; and 
few of you have had the opportunity of conversing with any 
of us, or of knowing any thing more of our conduct and con- 
versation than what you have received from others ; and thus 
we are subjected to the unjust suspicions you have entertained 
from the uncertain reports of our adversaries, and are con- 
demned unheard, to be deprived of our most endearing con- 
nexions, and temporal enjoyments, when our personal care of 
them is most immediately necessary. 

We are therefore engaged in the most solemn manner, to 
call upon and entreat you, to reconsider the course of your 
proceedings respecting us ; and either by yourselves or the said 
President and Council, to give us the opportunity of a hearing 
and answering to every matter suggested to, and entertained 
by you or them, against us; being assured we shall appear 
to be true friends to, and anxiously solicitous for the prosperity 
of America, on the principles of justice and liberty ; and 
though we are clearly convinced, from the precepts of Christ, 
the doctrine of his Apostles, and the example of his followers 
in the primitive ages of Christianity, that all outward wars and 
fightings are unlawful, and therefore cannot join therein for any 
cause whatever, we cannot but remind you that we are by 
the same principles restrained from pursuing any measures in- 
consistent with the apostolic advice, " to live peaceably with 
all men," under whatever powers it is our lot to live, which 
rule of conduct we are determined to observe, whatever you, 
or any others, may determine concerning us. 

Your characters, in the conspicuous station you stand, and 
the regard due to the liberties, properties, and even the lives of 
those who are, or may be affected by the course of your pro- 
ceedings, so loudly proclaim the justice of our demand of a 
hearing, that if more time remained for it, we judge further 
reasoning unnecessary, beseeching you to remember that we 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 105 

are all to appear before the tribunal of Divine Justice, there to 
render an account of our actions, and to receive a reward 
according as our works have been. And we sincerely desire 
for you, as we do for ourselves, that we may all so direct our 
course, that we may at that tribunal receive the answer of 
" well done," and enjoy the reward of eternal peace and hap- 
piness. 

We are your real friends, 
Israel Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 

James Pemberton, Thomas Fisher, 

John Pemberton, Samuel Pleasants, 

Thomas Wharton, Samuel R. Fisher. 

Philadelphia, 5th of 9th month, 1777, Lodge Alley. 

We have seen the resolves of Congress published in the 
Evening Post, of which we shall take due notice, and also the 
papers published by order of Congress, in a supplement to the 
Pennsylvania Packet. As they are particularly pointed at a 
religious society who are capable of answering for their own 
conduct, we shall leave it to them to confute the insinuations 
contained in some parts of that publication, which some of us 
know they are able to do. 

We also think it our duty to acquaint you, that Alexander 
Stedman and Charles Stedman, jun., who are included in the 
general warrant, were apprehended and brought here with us ; 
but in a few hours they were carried under guard to the New 
Prison, where we are informed they yet remain, as much 
neglected by their accusers as we have been. 

N. B. Seven o'clock, p. m. — We presented another remon- 
strance to the President and Council this day, to which we 
have received an answer, both which we shall endeavour to 
hand to the public to-morrow. 

Masons' Lodge, September 9, 1777. 

We now lay before you the papers referred to in our note of 
last evening, together with a copy of a letter received by Dr. 



106 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Hutchinson, informing us of the result of Council upon the last 
remonstrance. 

Copy of a letter from Timothy Matlack to William Bradford. 

Philadelphia, September 5th, 1777. 
SlR, 

A remonstrance, signed by the gentlemen confined at the 
Masons' Lodge, having been presented to Council and read, 
the Council took the same into consideration, and asked the 
advice of Congress thereupon, which being received, Council 
thereupon passed the following resolve, which they beg the 
favour of you to communicate to the aforesaid gentlemen. 

In Council, Philadelphia, September 5th, 1777. 

Resolved, That such of the persons now confined in the 
Lodge, as shall take and subscribe the oath or affirmation re- 
quired by law, in this commonwealth, or that shall take and 
subscribe the following oath or affirmation, to wit: 

" I do swear (or affirm), that I will be faithful and bear true 
allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as a free 
and independent state," shall be discharged. 

I am respectfully, your very humble servant, 

Timothy Matlack, 

Secretary. 
To Colonel William Bradford. 

N. B. — This letter was delivered to Mr. Bradford, as the 
answer of Council to the second remonstrance. 

Copy of a third remonstrance, presented to the President 
and Council yesterday, by the hands of Samuel Rhoads, and 
Dr. Hutchinson. 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 107 

Philadelphia, 8th September, 1777. 
TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance of the subscribers, freemen and inhabi- 
tants of the City of Philadelphia, now confined in the Masons' 
Lodge, sheweth : 

That it is with pain, we find ourselves under the disagreeable 
necessity of again remonstrating against your extraordinary 
mode of treating us. When our last remonstance was de- 
livered to your President, he gave expectation to our fellow- 
citizens who waited on him, that he would lay it before you, 
and return an answer. Notwithstanding which, we have as 
yet received no answer whatsoever to it, but instead thereof, a 
paper signed by your Secretary, was delivered to us by William 
Bradford, the contents of which we shall have occasion to re- 
mark on. 

But we must not omit another letter received through the 
same channel, by which we are confirmed in the truth of what 
we had before heard, that on the very day you were addressed 
by three of us to be heard, and before we were furnished with 
a copy of the general warrant, you had resolved to banish us 
to Staunton, in the county of Augusta, in Virginia, a place 
where you claim no jurisdiction, and to which we are utter 
strangers. This resolution formed against a body of innocent 
freemen, while demanding to be heard, is, we believe, the first 
instance of the kind to be found in the history of our country; 
and besides the violent infringement of the laws and constitu- 
tion which you have engaged to govern by, the hardship is 
heightened by the particular situation of that country at this 
time ; as it is publicly asserted that the Indians have already 
commenced hostilities upon the frontiers of Virginia, not very 
far distant from the place of our intended banishment, as though 
you could find no place of security without endangering our 
lives. 

From the professions you have repeatedly made of your love 
of liberty and justice, and the manner in which we have de- 



108 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

manded our undoubted rights, we had reason to expect to have 
heard from you on the subject of our last remonstrance; but 
we find we were mistaken, and the complaints of injured free- 
men still remain unanswered. 

Whether you imagine we are of too little consequence to be 
regarded, or expect that confinement will reduce us to a tame 
acquiescence with your arbitrary proceedings, we shall not de- 
termine; it will not divert our attention from the important 
object we have in view in behalf of ourselves and our country. 
Nor will subtle proposals, fit only to captivate the unwary, de- 
coy us from the sure ground on which we stand, into a measure 
as illegal and unconstitutional as your general warrant, and 
our oppressive treatment under it. 

The proposition coniained in your resolve of the 5th inst., to 
discharge us upon taking the test " required by law," or the 
new test framed by yourselves, now demand our notice. 

And first we would observe, that if you had a right to make 
such a proposition, w T e think it very improper to be made to 
men in our situation. You have first deprived us of our liberty, 
on one pretence, which finding you are not able to justify, you 
waive, and require as a condition of our enlargement, that we 
should confess ourselves men of suspicious characters, by doing 
what ought not to be expected from innocent persons. This 
kind of procedure is not new in history ; for though the great 
patriots of the Revolution found better expedients for the secu- 
rity of their government than what arises from oaths of abjura- 
tion, yet the annals, both of Old and New England, are stained 
with accounts of men, in circumstances similar to our own, 
dragged before magistrates, on the bare suspicion of crimes ; 
of whom tests, which they conscientiously scrupled to take, 
have been afterwards demanded, as the condition of their en- 
largement. But such examples, we should hope, would not 
have found patrons among men professing to be reformers upon 
all the plans of civil and religious liberty, adopted by the free 
nations of Europe. 

It is strange to us, that men entrusted with supreme execu- 



. ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 109 

tive powers, should be so regardless of the laws you have most 
solemnly engaged to execute, as to require us to do more than 
those very laws enjoin. By the Test Act, every inhabitant 
may take the test, and enjoy all the rights of freemen, or de- 
cline it, and submit to a deprivation of some of them, which 
are expressed in that act; but no power is given to any 
officer of justice whatsoever, to tender it to any person except 
in particular circumstances, and as the charge against us is 
not founded on a breach of that law, it is evident you exceeded 
your authority in putting it to us. But if after what is past, we 
could be surprised at any thing you do, we should have been 
astonished at the rapid progress of your usurpation in assuming 
legislative powers to yourselves, while the Assembly was 
sitting under the same roof. You have overturned the only 
security the Constitution has given the people against absolute 
despotism, by attempting to exercise the authority of framing 
a resolve operating as a law at the same time the powers of 
executing it. 

Your duty as one branch of the Constitution, is confined to 
the executing the laws as you find them, and does not extend 
to the making new ones to salve your own irregular conduct. 
You have undertaken all this by proposing a new test of your 
own enacting, unknown to the laws and constitution of the 
government which you are to execute, unsupported by any 
authority under which you act ; and this an ex post facto law 
made to criminate by a refusal those who before were innocent. 
And if we were in your opinion such dangerous persons, as 
you, under the sanction of the Congress, have endeavoured to 
represent us, and could not be secured without sending us to 
so remote and dangerous a part of the country, beyond the 
limits of your jurisdiction, how will the public be secured by 
our taking either of the tests you have proposed 1 That men 
of bad principles will submit to any tests to cover their dan- 
gerous and wicked purposes, is evident to all who have been 
conversant in public affairs. 

The great Lord Halifax, who in the name of the people of 



110 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

England presented the crown to King William and Queen 
Mary at the Revolution, has expressed himself on this subject, 
in the following nervous terms : " As there is no real security 
to any state by oaths, so no private person, much less states- 
man, would ever order his affairs as relying on it ; for no man 
would ever sleep with open doors, or unlocked up treasure or 
plate, should all the town be sworn not to rob." 

Another most extraordinary proceeding we find in your 
Secretary's letter, where he says, that you asked, and received 
the advice of Congress upon our remonstrance, before you de- 
termined upon it. What ! shall unaccused citizens, demand- 
ing their inherent rights, be delayed or refused a hearing until 
Congress can be consulted 1 A body, who have engaged not 
to interfere in the internal police of the government. Perhaps 
you thought the authority of a recommendation from Congress 
would render your arbitrary designs effectual, and countenance 
you in the eyes of the people. We trust you will be mistaken, 
and that neither Congress nor the people will approve your 
measures. 

Having thus remarked on your proposal, protesting our in- 
nocence, we again repeat our pressing demand, to be informed 
of the cause of our commitment, and to have a hearing in the 
face of our country, before whom we shall either stand acquitted 
or condemned. 

Israel Pemberton, William Drewet Smith, 

James Pemberton, Samuel Pleasants, 

John Hunt, William Smith, (broker,) 

Thomas Wharton, Charles Jervis, 

Thomas Coombe, Thomas Pike, 

Edward Pennington, Thomas Gilpin, 

John Pemberton, Samuel R. Fisher, 

Henry Drinker, Thomas Fisher, 

Phineas Bond, Elijah Brown, 

Thomas Affleck, Miers Fisher, 

Owen Jones, jun., Charles Eddy. 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 



Ill 



Philadelphia, September 8th, 1777. 
" Sir,— 

The remonstrance delivered by you and Samuel Rhoads, 
Esq., to me, has been read in Council, and I am directed to 
acquaint you, that the business to which this remonstrance re- 
lates, is referred to Congress. 

I am, with great respect, your humble servant, 

T. Matlack, 
Secretary. 
To Doctor Hutchinson, (Present.)" 

Masons' Lodge, September 9, 1777, 10 o'clock, p. m. 
TO THE INHABITANTS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The following is a copy of a paper we received at half-past 
four o'clock this afternoon, and we have since received orders 
to prepare for our banishment to-morrow. 



"IN COUNCIL. 



Resolved, That 

James Pemberton, 

Henry Drinker, 

Israel Pemberton, 

John Pemberton, 

Samuel Pleasants, 

Thomas Wharton, sen., 

Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) 

Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) 

Miers Fisher, 

Elijah Brown, 

John Hunt, 



Philadelphia, September 9th, 1777. 

Phineas Bond, 
Rev Thomas Coombe, 
Charles Jervis, 
William Drewet Smith, 
Charles Eddy. 
Thomas Pike, 
Owen Jones, jun., 
Edward Pennington, 
William Smith, 
Thomas Gilpin, and 
Thomas Affleck, 



apprehended by Council, as persons who have uniformly 
manifested, by their general conduct and conversation, a dispo- 
sition highly inimical to the cause of America, and now im- 



112 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

prisoned in the Freemason's Lodge in this city, they refusing 
to confine themselves to their several dwellings, and thereby 
making the restraint of their persons in another manner neces- 
sary; and having refused to promise to refrain from corre- 
sponding with the enemy ; and also declined giving any assu- 
rance of allegiance to this State, as of right they ought ; do 
thereby renounce all the privileges of citizenship ; and that it 
appears they consider themselves the subjects of the King of 
Great Britain, the enemy of this and the other United States of 
America, and that they ought to be proceeded with accord- 
ingly. 

" Resolved, That persons of like characters, and in emer- 
gencies equal to the present, when the enemy is at our doors, 
have in the other States been arrested and secured upon sus- 
picions arising from their general behaviour, and refusal to 
acknowledge their allegiance to the States of which they were 
the proper subjects ; and that such proceedings may be abun- 
dantly justified by the conduct of the freest nations, and the 
authority of the most judicious civilians. Therefore, 

" Resolved, That the persons whose names are mentioned 
above be, without further delay, removed to Staunton, in Vir- 
ginia, there to be treated according to their characters and 
stations, as far as may be consistent with the securing of their 
persons. Also, 

" Resolved, That Wm. Imlay, said to be a subject of the 
state of New York, having behaved in like manner as the per- 
sons above mentioned, and in particular declined to give assu- 
rance of allegiance to the state of New York, be removed and 
secured with the rest. 

" Ordered, That Colonel Nicola, the town major, secure the 
prisoners above-named now in the Masons' Lodge, and assist 
in removing them out of the city. 
" Extract from the minutes. 

" T. Matlack, 

" Secretary." 



ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS. 113 

As we consider this to be the highest act of tyranny that has 
been exercised in any age or country, where the shadow of 
liberty was left, we have in the following manner entered our 
protest against these proceedings. 

PROTEST. 

9th September,. B777. 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance and protest of the subscribers, sheweth : 

That your resolve of this day was this afternoon delivered 
to us, which is the more unexpected, as last evening your Se- 
cretary informed us you had referred our business to Congress,, 
to whom we were about further to apply. 

In this resolve, contrary to the inherent rights of mankind, 
you condemn us to banishment unheard. 

You determine matters concerning us, whicii we could have 
disproved, had our right to a hearing been granted. 

The charge against us of refusing " to promise to refrain 
from corresponding with the enemy," insinuates that we have 
already held such correspondence, which we utterly and so- 
lemnly deny. 

The tests you proposed, we were by n > law bound to sub- 
scribe, and notwithstanding our refusing them, we are still 
justly and lawfully entitled to all the rights of citizenship, of 
which you are attempting to deprive us. 

We have never been suffered to come before you to evince 
our innocence, and remove suspicions which you have laboured 
to instil into the minds of others, and at the same time knew 
to be groundless, although Congress recommended it to you to 
give us a hearing, and your President this morning assured, 
two of our friends we shoul have it. 

In vindication of our characters, we who are of the people 
called Quakers, are free to declare, that, 

Although at the time many of our forefathers were con- 
vinced of the truth, which we their descendants now profess, 
great fluctuations and various changes and turnings happened 

8 



114 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

in government, and they were greatly vilified and persecuted 
for a firm and steady adherence to their peaceable and inoffen- 
sive principles, yet they were preserved from any thing tending 
to promote insurrections, conspiracies, or the shedding of 
blood ; and during the troubles which by permission of Divine 
Providence have latterly prevailed, we have steadily main- 
tained our religious principles in these respects, and have not 
held any correspondence with the contending parties, as is un- 
justly insinuated, but are withheld and restrained from being 
concerned in such matters, by that divine principle of grace 
and truth which we profess to be our guide and rule through 
life. This is of more force and obligation than all the tests 
and declarations devised by men. 

And we who are of the Church of England, are free to de- 
clare to you and to the world, that we never have at any time 
during the present controversy, either directly or indirectly, 
■" communicated any intelligence whatever to the Commander 
,of fhe British forces, or any other person concerned in public 
•affairs." And with the same cheerfulness we would have en- 
gaged not to hold any such correspondence in future, had not 
the requisition been coupled with ignominious and illegal re- 
striction^ subjecting us to become prisoners within the walls 
of our owjn dwellings, and to surrender ourselves to the Presi- 
dent and Council on demand. This the clear consciousness of 
<our own innocence absolutely forbade us to accede to. 

Upon the whole, your proceedings have been so arbitrary 
ihat words are wanting to express our sense of them. We do 
therefore, as the last office we expect you will now suffer us to 
■perform for the benefit of our country, in behalf of ourselves 
and those freemen of Pennsylvania w r ho have any regard for 
liberty, solemnly remonstrate and protest against your whole 
-conduct in this unreasonable excess of power exercised by you. 

That the evil and destructive spirit of pride, ambition, and 
^arbitrary power, with which you have been actuated, may 
' cease and be no more ; " and that peace on earth, and good will 
to men" may happily take the place thereof in your and all 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 115 

men's minds, is the sincere desire of your oppressed and in- 
jured fellow-citizens. 

Israel Pemberton, Owen Jones, Jr. 

John Hunt, Thomas Gilpin, 

James Pemberton, Charles Jervis, 

John Pemberton, Phineas Bond, 

Thomas Wharton, Thomas Affleck, 

Edward Pennington, William Drewit Smith, 

Thomas Coombe, Thomas Pike, 

Henry Drinker, William Smith, (broker,) 

Thomas Fisher, Elijah Brown, 

Samuel Pleasants, Charles Eddy, 

Samuel R. Fisher, Miers Fisher. 



As it has appeared proper to put the pamphlet on these minutes 
in the manner it was printed and handed to the public, the 
daily narrative has been somewhat interrupted, and when re- 
sumed according to the diary, there will appear to be a repeti- 
tion of some of the addresses, but this occurs only at this part 
of the narrative ; many of the events having to be alluded to 
both in the memorials and in the minutes. 

When the remonstrances to the Congress of the United States, 
and to the Council of Pennsylvania, are mentioned in the 
journal of the company, and not written out at length, they 
will be found in the pamphlet, by reference to the pages. 

On the 6th of September, 1777, there was brought to us a 
copy of a remonstrance, which had been presented to the 
President and Council on our behalf, signed by one hundred 
and thirteen Friends, which it is proper to insert on the Journal 
of our transactions, viz. : 

Philadelphia, 5th of 9th month, 1777. 
TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

A number of our friends and fellow-citizens have been de- 
prived of their liberty and taken from their families into a 



116 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



place of confinement, by your warrant, and denied the just and 
reasonable request of being heard, and since ordered to be re- 
moved to a distant part of Virginia, — a proceeding which not 
only affects the persons immediately concerned, but is an 
alarming violation of the civil and religious rights of the com- 
munity. 

We therefore think it our duty to our said friends, to our- 
selves, to our country, and to mankind in general, to remon- 
strate against such conduct, which we conceive no plea of 
necessity can justify, lest by our silence on this very interest- 
ing occasion, it should be understood that we acquiesced 
therein. 

We earnestly wish you to consider this matter in a solid, 
religious way, and in the fear of God, whom we profess to 
serve in the Gospel of his Son, at whose judgment seat we 
shall all ere long appear, and that we may all be prepared for 
this awful period, is the real desire of your sincere friends, 



Townsend Speakman, 
Samuel Lobdell, 
John Townsend, 
Amos Taylor, 
Isaac Forster, 
Elias Dawson, 
Caleb Carmalt, 
Isaac Paxon, 
Daniel Dawson, 
Josiah Coates, 
Thomas Norton, 
Caleb Offley, 
Samuel Taylor, 
Stephen Maxwell, 
Samuel Jones, 
William Compton, 
Charles Mifflin, 
Thomas Howard, 



Samuel Bettle, 
Charles Logan, 
Thomas Eddy, 
Samuel Coates, 
Roger Bowman, 
Thomas Wishart, 
Richard Wells, 
James Bringhurst, 
Daniel Drinker, 
Ebenezer Robinson, 
Caleb Atmore, 
James Starr, 
Benedict Dorsey, 
Joseph Potts, 
Richard Jones, 
Isaac Parish, 
John Haworth, 
Samuel Clarke, 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 



117 



William Sa'very, Jr., 
John Thompson, 
Daniel Offley, jr., 
Thomas Savery, 
Benjamin Davis, 
Isaac Lewis, 
Abraham Mitchell, 
John Guest, 
George Guest, 
Charles Dingee, 
Jonathan Worrell, 
Job Butcher, 
John Eldridge, 
John Evans, 
Joseph Russel, 
John Field, 
Richard Price, 
Joseph Cruikshank, 
William Braver, 
Edward Wells, 
Richard Adams, 
William Brown, 
Anthony Benezet, 
Owen Jones, 
Anthony Morris, 
John Reynell, 
Samuel Rhoads, 
Samuel Preston Moore, 
John Morris, 
Charles West, 
Abraham Mason, 
Samuel Noble, 
David Bacon, 



William Wilson, 
John Drinker, 
John Nancarrow, Jr. 
Joshua Cresson, 
William Dawson, 
Nicholas Wain, 
John Todd, 
William Pusey, 
James Cresson, 
William Wayne, 
Caleb Jones, 
Robert Lewis, 
Robert Wain, 
Thomas Say, 
Thomas Hallowell, 
Joseph Richardson, 
Edward Jones, 
David Deshler, 
Joseph Marriott, 
Benjamin Hooton, 
Robert Proud, 
John Parish, 
Abraham Carlisle, 
William Savery, 
Samuel Hopkins, 
Thomas Masterman, 
Joseph Bringhurst, 
Samuel Rhoads, Jr., 
John Lownes, 
Jonathan Shoemaker, 
Samuel Richards, 
Isaac Cathrall, 
Benjamin Horner. 



Philadelphia, 7th of 9th month, 1777. 

Being the first day of the week, and we deprived of the pri- 
vilege of assembling with our brethren as usual, for the per- 



118 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

formance of public worship; but unwilling to omit that solemn 
indispensable duty, we desired the guards to inform our friends 
that we inclined to be pretty, much alone; accordingly few 
visited us till evening. 

Thomas Coombe being one of our number, and a minister of 
the Church of England, with such of us as were his fellow- 
citizens, collected about nine o'clock in the morning in one of 
our rooms to perform religious service. About ten o'clock the 
rest of us sat down, having the company of our friends John 
Foreman, John Parrish, Samuel Hopkins, David Estraugh, 
and two other Friends, soon after which the above-mentioned 
members of the Church of England came and sat with us. 
John Foreman expressed a few sentences in a very lively and 
acceptable manner, after which John Hunt was much favoured 
in setting forth the nature and qualifications of the true gospel 
ministry, and of that opposite spirit which leads into persecu- 
tion, directing our attention to that divine Power, which alone 
can preserve and support us. And although it was a hard 
time of labour to some of us, yet we were united with him in 
his supplication for us, and for our near and tender connexions. 

This afternoon w T e were engaged preparing a third remon- 
strance to the President and Council. A supplement extraordi- 
nary to John Dunlap's paper was brought to us, containing an 
epistle from the Meeting for Sufferings, dated 5th of 1st month, 
1775 ; two testimonies from the same, dated 20th of 1st month, 
1776 ; a minute of the Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia, 
dated 8th month 4th, 1777. 

Also three false papers, or papers forged by some person, 
said to be found on Staten Island, among prisoners' baggage, 
and forwarded by General Sullivan. All published by order 
of Congress, and signed by Charles Thomson. 

The above we believe was published to make up a charge 
against us, and prejudice the minds of the people; and it would 
appear that some of the officers were privy to getting up these 
forged papers, in order to throw the odium of such papers and 
intelligence, and documents upon us, and to have a pretext for 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 119 

banishing us, who by leading innocent and quiet lives could 
not join in heart with such men. It was made known to us 
before we were apprehended that they would banish us. 

Philadelphia, 8th of 9th month, 1777. 

This morning we resumed the consideration of the remon- 
strance to the President and Council, and agreed upon it. A 
copy was made out and signed by us. Samuel Rhoads and Dr. 
Hutchinson undertook to deliver it. They returned soon and 
reported they had delivered it to Timothy Matlack, the Secre- 
tary, at the Council door. He had offered to introduce them, 
or to deliver it himself to the Council ; they chose the latter 
mode. 

See the third remonstrance to the President and Council of 
Pennsylvania, 8th September, 1777 ; as stated in the printed 
pamphlet at page 107. 

After dinner a committee of Friends from the Meeting for 
Sufferings, attended us, and had a conference with several of 
our number, on the publications in a Supplement to John Dun- 
lap's Pennsylvania Packet, as mentioned in the minute of yes- 
terday, the publishing of which, at this time, appeared to be 
manifestly intended to mislead the people, to raise their enmity 
against us, and against the Society of Friends in general, in 
order to justify the unwarrantable proceedings respecting us, 
and such others of our Society as our persecutors had in view 
to take up in the same arbitrary manner. After some time 
spent in consideration of this matter, it was agreed that the 
members of the Meeting for Sufferings, and we, should keep it 
under consideration, and if either found their minds engaged to 
answer it, an essay should be made and communicated. 

After our friends of the Meeting of Sufferings withdrew 7 , on a 
conference among ourselves, it was thought necessary we 



120 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

should draw up a remonstrance to Congress, further to justify 
ourselves, and to answer the foregoing publications ; and a 
committee was appointed to prepare an essay. 

This evening Dr. Hutchinson communicated to us a letter 
he had received from Timothy Matlack, Secretary to the 
Council ; a copy of which is as follows : 

"Philadelphia, September 8th, 1777. 

" Sir — 

" The remonstrance delivered by you and Samuel Rhoads, 
Esq., to me, has been read in Council, and I am directed to 
acquaint you that the business to which this remonstrance re- 
lates, is referred to Congress. 

" I am, with great respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Timothy Matlack, 

Secretary. 
" To Doctor Hutchinson." 

Which being taken into consideration, we requested Dr. 
Hutchinson to apply to him for a copy of the minute of Coun- 
cil, referring our business to Congress, and also to ask him 
whether the C >um il considered us as their prisoners or not. 

He returned late in the evening and informed us that Timothy 
Matlack refused to give him a copy of the minute we desired, 
without leave of Council, and told him the question he asked 
was artful and insidious, and he was not authorized to an- 
swer it. 

9th day of 9th month. 

Being desirous of procuring a copy of the minute of Council 
last referred to, and an answer to the question proposed last 
evening, we committed our request to writing, and desired 
Samuel Rhoads and Dr. Hutchinson to communicate it to 
Council, and endeavour to obtain an answer : it being as fol- 
lows : 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 121 

The prisoners at the Lodge, request Samuel Rhoads and Dr. 
Hutchinson to wait on the President and Council, and desire a 
copy of the minute of Council, referring the business of their 
remonstrance to Congress, and that they would let them know 
whether Council consider them their prisoners or not. 

J Oth of 9 th month. 

Adam Rochenberger, sergeant of the guards, having in- 
formed some of the prisoners last night, that William Bradford 
and Lewis Nicola had both denied their having any charge of 
us, and added they should not hinder any, or all of us from 
going away, it was thought necessary to send for both William 
Bradford and Lewis Nicola, to inquire into the truth of this 
matter. 

William Morrell, who waited on William Bradford, quickly 
returned and informed us that he is indisposed. We therefore 
agreed to send the following questions in writing. 

William Bradford wrote his answers against the questions, 
and Lewis Nicola attending in person, the same questions were 
proposed to him. 

The questions and their respective answers are as follows : 

1st. Whether we are in his custody? 

1st. W. B.— No. 

1st. L. N. — I apprehend four of you are, and that I have 
nothing to say to the rest. The four are Mr. Israel Pemberton, 
Mr. Hunt, Mr. Pleasants, and Mr. Bond. I received no orders 
respecting the others, except to furnish William Bradford with 
a guard, by a written order of the President and Council. 

2d. If answered in the negative. In whose custody are we? 

2d. W. B. — I suppose Colonel Nicola's. 

2d. L. N. — The last-mentioned four gentlemen are in my 
custody. If the rest are not in Colonel Bradford's, I know not 
whose they are. 

3d. By whose orders were the guards placed here ? 

3d. W. B.— The Council's. 



122 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

3d. L. N. — Charles Wilson Peale came to me for a guard 
by order of Colonel Bradford ; in consequence of which I sent 
down twenty men to Masons' Lodge. 

4th. By whose order has it been since continued ? 

4th. W. B. — I suppose the Council's. 

4th. L. N. — The guard is continued in consequence of the 
first order by my directions ; and I think it my duty to con- 
tinue it till countermanded. 

5th. Are there any particular orders given to the guards 
concerning us; if any, what are they and by whom given? 

5th. W. B. — I know of no orders. 

5th. L. N. — I have given no orders to the guards except on 
some complaint made to me of them on the day the first of the 
prisoners were committed, and suppose they have received 
their orders from Colonel Bradford. 

10th of 9th month, 1777.— About half past four o'clock, we 
received a copy of the resolves of the President and Council, 
for our removal to Staunton, in Virginia. 

Having conferred some time on the subject of said resolves, 
it was concluded to publish the same immediately, and to add 
thereto a protest against their arbitrary proceedings, and Henry 
Drinker and Miers Fisher were appointed to prepare an essay. 

At half past seven o'clock, Lewis Nicola came to us with a 
letter directed to him, signed by George Bryan, Vice-President, 
signifying their intention of our being removed to-morrow, and 
the manner thereof. 

Of this letter we did not obtain a copy. The substance of 
it was, directions to him to procure a sufficient number of city 
guards, and remove us over the bridge at Schuylkill, and there 
to deliver us to a party of horse, who would attend to take 
charge of us, and escort us to Staunton, Virginia. Lewis 
Nicola, at the same time informed us that he did not wish us 
to remove further this day than a short distance out of the city, 
and proposed our being ready to proceed about five o'clock, p.m. 

The committee appointed to prepare a protest, reported an 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 123 

essay, which being considered and amended was. signed, and 
at about ten o'clock, p. m., was sent by Doctor Hutchinson and 
James Morton to be delivered to the Vice-President of the 
Council ; but he being gone to bed, it was continued under their 
care, to be delivered to-morrow morning, and a copy was sent 
to the press, to be added to the remonstrance above mentioned, 
with the following short introduction. 

Philadelphia, Masons' Lodge, 

September 9, 1777, 4 o'clock. 

TO THE INHABITANTS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The following is a copy of a paper we received at half past 
four o'clock this afternoon, and we have since received orders 
to prepare for our banishment to-morrow. 

"IN COUNCIL. 

"Philadelphia, September 9th, 1777. 

" Resolved, That 

Israel Pemberton, Thomas Fisher, son of Joshua, 

James Pemberton, Samuel Fisher, son of Joshua, 

John Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 

Thomas Wharton, sen., Samuel Pleasants, 

Miers Fisher, John Hunt, 

Phineas Bond, Charles Jervis, 

William Drewet Smith, Thomas Pike, 

Owen Jones, jun., William Smith, 

Thomas Gilpin, Charles Eddy, 

Elijah Brown, Edward Pennington, 

Rev. Thomas Coombe, Thomas Affleck, 

apprehended by Council as persons who have uniformly mani- 
fested by their general conduct and conversation a dispo- 
sition highly inimical to the cause of America, and now im- 
prisoned in the Freemasons' Lodge, in this city, they refusing 
to confine themselves to their several dwellings, and thereby 



124 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

making the restraint of their persons in another manner neces- 
sary; and having refused to promise to refrain from corre- 
sponding with the enemy, and also declined giving any assu- 
rance of allegiance to this State, as of a right they ought, do 
hereby renounce all the privileges of citizenship ; and that it 
appears they consider themselves subjects of the King of Great 
Britain, the enemy of this and the other United States of Ame- 
rica, and that they ought to be proceeded with accordingly. 

" Resolved, That persons of like characters, and in emer- 
gencies equal to the present, when the enemy is at our doors, 
have in the other States been arrested and secured upon sus- 
picion arising from their general behaviour and refusal to 
acknowledge allegiance to the State, of which they were pro- 
per subjects ; and that such proceedings may be abundantly 
justified by the conduct of the freest nation, and the authority 
of the most judicious civilians. Therefore, 

" Resolved, That the persons whose names are mentioned 
above, be without further delay, removed to Staunton in Vir- 
ginia, there to be treated according to their characters and 
stations, as far as may be consistent with the security of their 
persons. Also, 

" Resolved, That William Imlay, said to be a subject of the 
State of New York, having behaved in like manner as the 
persons above mentioned, and in particular declined to give 
assurance of allegiance to the State of New York, be removed 
and secured with the rest. 

" Ordered, That Colonel Nicola, the town major, secure the 
prisoners above named, now in the Masons' Lodge, and assist 
in removing them out of the city. 
" Extract from the minutes, 

" Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary." 

As we consider this to be the highest act of tyranny that has 
been exercised in any age or country, where the shadow of 
liberty was left, we have in the following manner entered our 
Protest against these proceedings. 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 125 

PROTEST. 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The remonstrance and protest of the subscribers, sheweth : 

That your resolve of this day was this afternoon delivered 
to us, which is the more unexpected, as last evening your 
Secretary informed us you had referred our business to Con- 
gress, to whom we were about further to apply. 

In this resolve, contrary to the inherent rights of mankind, 
you condemn us to banishment unheard. 

You determine matters concerning us, which ice could have 
disproved, had a right to a hearing been granted. 

The charge against us of refusing to " promise to refrain 
from corresponding with the enemy," insinuates that we may 
have already held such correspondence, which we utterly and 
solemnly deny. 

The tests you proposed, we w T ere by no law bound to sub- 
scribe, and notwithstanding our refusing them, we are still 
justly and lawfully entitled to all the rights of citizenship, of 
which you are attempting to deprive us. 

We have never been suffered to come before you to evince 
our innocence, and to remove suspicions, which you have 
laboured to instil into the minds of others, and at the same 
time knew to be groundless, although Congress recommended 
it to you to give us a hearing, and your President this morning 
assured two of our friends we should have one. 

In vindication of our characters, we who are of the people 
called Quakers, are free to declare that, 

Although at the time many of our forefathers were convinced 
of the truth, which we their descendants now profess, great 
fluctuations and various changes and turnings happened in 
government, and they were greatly vilified and persecuted for 
a firm and steady adherence to their peaceable and inoffensive 
principles, yet they were preserved from any thing tending to 
promote insurrections, conspiracies, or the shedding of blood, 
and during the troubles, which by permission of Divine Provi- 



126 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

dence have latterly prevailed, we have steadily maintained our 
religious principles in these respects, and have not held any 
correspondence with any of the contending parties, as it is 
unjustly insinuated, but are restrained from being concerned in 
such matters, from that divine principle of light and of truth, 
which we profess to be our guide and rule through life. This 
is of more force and obligation than all the tests and declara- 
tions devised by men. 

And we who are of the Church of England are free to de- 
clare to you, and to the world, that we never have at any time 
during the present controversy, either directly or indirectly 
" communicated any intelligence whatever to the commander 
of the British forces, or to any other person concerned in 
public affairs," and with the same cheerfulness would have 
engaged not to hold any correspondence in future, had not 
the requisition been coupled with ignominious and illegal re- 
strictions, subjecting us to become prisoners within the walls 
of our own dwellings, and to surrender ourselves to the Presi- 
dent and Council on demand ; this the clear consciousness of 
our own innocence absolutely forbade us to accede to. 

Upon the whole, your proceedings have been so arbitrary, 
that words are wanting to express our sense of them. 

We do, therefore, as the last office we expect you will now 
suffer us to perform, for the benefit of our country, in behalf of 
ourselves, and of those freemen of Pennsylvania who still have 
any regard for liberty, solemnly remonstrate and protest against 
your w 7 hole conduct in this unreasonable excess of power 
exercised by you. 

That the evil and destructive spirit of pride, ambition, and 
arbitrary power, with which you have been actuated, may 
cease and be no more ; and that peace on earth, and good will 
to men, may happily take the place thereof, in your and all 
men's minds, is the sincere desire of your oppressed and injured 
fellow-citizens. 

Israel Pemberton, Thomas Gilpin, 

John Pemberton, Charles Jervis, 

Thomas Wharton, Phineas Bond, 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 127 

Edward Pennington, James Pemberton, 

Thomas Coombe, Thomas Affleck, 

Henry Drinker, William Druit Smith, 

Thomas Fisher, Thomas Pike, 

John Hunt, William Smith, (broker,) 

Samuel Pleasants, Elijah Brown, 

Samuel R. Fisher, Charles Eddy, 

Owen Jones, Jr., Miers Fisher. 

Philadelphia, Masons' Lodge, 

9th September, 1777, 10 o'clock, p. m. 

Philadelphia, 10th of 9th month, 1777. 

The remonstrance and protest were this morning delivered, 
and that, together with the resolves of the Council for our 
removal, being printed in a handbill, by Joseph Cruikshank, 
was distributed through the city about twelve o'clock. 

A proposition of great importance being made by one of our 
company (Miers Fisher), the same was taken into serious con- 
sideration, and after a considerable time spent thereon, and much 
condescension prevailing, the question was put to each, and it 
appeared that several of our number were free to make further 
essay for our enlargement, by applying for writs of habeas 
corpus, it appeared that such as were inclined to do it should 
be left at liberty. 

A number of questions being agreed on, were delivered to 
Lewis Nicola in writing, which he laid before Council, and on 
his return, he delivered us their verbal answers, which were 
taken down, being as follows : 

The prisoners confined in the Masons' Lodge, having seen 
orders, about 8 o'clock last night, 9th inst., to Lewis Nicola, 
dated September 9th, 1777, which was the notice of the time 
prepared for our removal — 

They ask him, or the President and Council, through him. 

1st. How are we to be sent into banishment? If in car- 
riages what sort, and how many ? 

1st. In six light wagons. 



128 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



2d. Are we to be furnished with baggage-wagons? And 
how many? 

2d. With two. 

3d. What provisions and stores are provided for so long a 
journey? 

3d. No provision is made but such as the road will supply 
you with. 

4th. What number of beds and bedding ? 

4th. The taverns on the road will supply you. 

5th. Who is to pay our travelling expenses, and for our sup- 
port during our absence from our families and business? 

5th. Council will pay your expenses on the road, and Con- 
gress will be applied to, to take into consideration your support 
during your absence. 

6th. Are not such of us whose families and affairs require 
their presence and assistance preparatory to their leaving home, 
at liberty to repair there, and to have the necessary communi- 
cation with their friends by letter, during our absence? 

6th. The first part left to his discretion, and he grants it. 
The correspondence allowed by open letters, through the hands 
of the Continental Secretary of War. 

7th. To w 7 hose custody are we to be committed when there? 
and will they have authority to suffer us, or one or more of us 
to visit our families on a promise to return, in case urgent cir- 
cumstances require it ? 

7th. To the Governor of Virginia, who will have some in- 
structions about you. 

8th. And are we not to have a certified copy of our commit- 
ment to that country, and of the orders accompanying it, that 
we may know in what light we are represented, and in what 
manner we are to be treated ? 

8th. Council apprehend that Congress will give the escort 
proper instructions in the matter. 

9th. Are we to have it in our power to apply to the officers 
of any government in which we may be, for the redress of any 
grievance we may labour under? 

9th. Granted. 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 129 

James Budden to command the escort. 

Council persists in their determination of your going to-day. 

Lewis Nicola informed us he would call on us at five o'clock, 
as he was in expectation of the carriages, &c, being ready by 
that time ; before this he had sent a message informing us that 
our removal was to be deferred till to-morrow. 

We acquainted him that two baggage-wagons would by no 
means be sufficient, that four at least would be necessary, and 
he promised to write a letter to the Secretary on the subject. 

The address " To the Inhabitants" being printed, together 
with the several " Remonstrances, &c.," in a pamphlet, some 
of them were brought here about four o'clock, and were dis- 
tributed. 

Our friends, John Reynells and Owen Jones, were requested 
to call on Benjamin Towne, and acquaint him that as he had 
published the resolves of the President and Council, respecting 
our removal, we desired that he would publish our remonstrance 
and protest, and they were also requested to apply to Hall and 
Sellers, and to William Bradford, on the same account. 

Apprehending it necessary to know the names of the Council, 
we applied to Lewis Nicola for a list, which he said he would 
not give us, as he knew very few of them. We however pro- 
cured the following from a friend, but he could not assure us it 
was complete. 

Thomas Wharton, Jr., President of the Council of 

Pennsylvania. 

George Bryan, Vice-President. 

Jonathan Hodge* Council. 

John Evans, Council. 

John Proctor, 

James Edgar, 

Jacob Morgan, 

John Hambright, 



130 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Joseph Hart, 

Thomas Urie, 

John Bayley, 

Thomas Scott, 

Timothy Matlack, Secretary. 

This afternoon and evening, divers of our company went 
home to see their families, and settle their affairs ; and Thomas 
Coombe returning, acquainted us he had given a parole, which 
was very unexpected to us, after the repeated declarations he 
had made, and his conduct during his confinement. 

Philadelphia, 11th of 9th month, 1777. — Owen Jones reported 
that he had seen Benjamin Towne, who informed him the press 
had been set for our first joint remonstrance ; that a person had 
applied to put an anonymous piece into his paper against us, 
but as he would neither give his name up or sign it, he took 
out the remonstrance, and published neither. That he was in 
great perplexity about these papers, when a piece was sent him 
by the Congress, containing minutes and resolves respecting us, 
which he published. That in regard to the present application 
he begged to be excused, as he had been divers times threatened 
on account of his publications, and he had reason to apprehend 
he would be taken up as a person suspected of being disaffected 
to the present measures, and his press stopped if he complied 
with our request. 

About nine o'clock, Lewis Nicola informed us he had orders 
to call on Samuel Caldwell and Alexander Nesbitt, (James 
Budden being out of town, by report, designedly,) tw r o of the 
troop of Light Horse, and as many of the City Guards as he 
might think sufficient, who were to conduct us to Reading, and 
there deliver us to some persons, whose names he could not 
tell, but orders would go with us ; that he could not get ready 
till this afternoon, and proposed three o'clock. He read part 
of a letter signed Thomas Wharton, jun., containing his orders, 
of which he promised us a copy. We desired that the officer 
who was to command the party, should call and acquaint us 



SENT TO VIRGINIA. 131 

what orders he had respecting us ; and we urged the necessity 
of an additional number of baggage-wagons, which he promised 
to procure. 

Owen Jones reported that William Sellers said he would 
consult a friend whom he usually advises with, about printing 
our Remonstrance and Protest, and would be determined by his 
advice, and that William Bradford promised to publish it in his 
next paper. 

Such of our number who had agreed to apply for writs of 
habeas corpus, had a meeting together, when they were drawn 
up and sent off by Levi Hollingsworth and Benjamin Bryan, to 
Thomas M'Kean and John Evans, lately appointed in the cha- 
racters of Justices of the Supreme Court of the present system 
of government. The writs applied for, being nine in number,, 
were for 

Israel Pemberton, William Drewet Smith,, 

James Pemberton, Thomas Gilpin, 

Samuel Pleasants, Charles Eddy, 

Thomas Affleck, Charles Jervis. 
Thomas Pike, 

The committee appointed to draw up a remonstrance to 
Congress, in answer to their publications against us, represented 
that, as we were likely to be hurried away by the Council, not- 
withstanding they had referred our business to Congress, they 
had thought it best to address the papers to the people, and laid 
before us an essay they had prepared, which was read, but not 
having time to correct it for the press, we delivered it to our 
friend, Owen Jones, desiring him, in conjunction with some 
other friends, to revise and correct it, aad if they thought pro- 
per to publish it in our names, or make such other use of it as 
they might think expedient. 

Sundry wagons, for our removal, were driven into Lodge 
Alley, about three o'clock in the afternoon, attended, with a 
military guard ; soon after, Lewis Nicola came and gave us 



132 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

a copy of a letter from Thomas Wharton, jun., to him, direct- 
ing the manner of our removal to be as follows : 



"IN COUNCIL. 

"Philadelphia, September 10«h, 1777. 
' Sir,— 

" The gentlemen of the Light Horse have made earnest 
application to be allowed to join General Washington, and to 
be released from the journey to Virginia. Their request is 
laudable, but it comes inconveniently, and makes some new 
provision needful for escorting the prisoners at the Lodge. At 
present it is proposed to entrust the direction of this business to 
two gentlemen of the troop and a competent number of your 
City Guards, mounted on horseback, as far as Reading. Your 
sentiments on this scheme, if you see any difficulty, are re- 
quired. It is hoped that the number necessary will be small; 
this will perhaps be better seen after the journey has been en- 
tered a few miles. 

" I am, sir, your very humble servant, 

" Thomas Wharton, jun, 

" President. 

" To iColonel Nicola." 

Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell attended, of whom 
we demanded a copy of their instructions respecting us, which 
they refused, and would not even read them to us, as a matter 
of right. After much altercation, Samuel Caldwell read them, 
as he informed us, though it appeared afterward he kept back a 
material part. 

As they refused us a copy of these instructions, and insisted 
on our immediate removal, notwithstanding we informed them 
that writs of habeas corpus were sent for, it was thought ne- 
cessary to make a protest against their proceedings, before 
some of our friends, which was done accordingly, and com- 
mitted to writing in the presence of Owen Jones, Isaac Wharton, 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 133 

John Reynells, Dr. Hutchinson, John Brown, and Joseph Bring- 
hurst. 

(For the protest under date of 9th September, 1777, see 
page 113.) 

Phineas Bond having had thoughts of giving his parole, if 
the terms he proposed were admitted, applied for that purpose, 
but being disappointed, returned and informed us he was de- 
termined to go with us rather than comply by signing the parole 
offered him ; but his name being struck off the list read to us, 
Lewis Nicola refused sending him with our company, and he 
informed him he was to remain in his custody. 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 

9th month, 11th. — About five o'clock we were compelled, 
some by actual force, and some by force being admitted, to 
take seats in a number of wagons, and were driven through 
the city, to the Falls of Schuylkill — a spectacle to the people. 

Thus, by the bold attempt of a set of men who had thrust 
themselves into power, there was accomplished an affair, which 
has no parallel in history. A people who had professedly risen 
up in opposition to what they called an arbitrary exercise of 
power, were in a little time so lost to every idea of liberty, as 
to see, without dreading the consequences, the very foundation 
of freedom torn up. And men were found who would under- 
take the execution of the mandates of Council without inquiring 
into the justice of them. 

This, however, is not an imputation upon all the citizens of 
Philadelphia ; for, from the first of our imprisonment, a great 
number of them of most denominations, publicly expressed their 
abhorrence of the measures taken against us ; and during our 
confinement we were every day visited by the most respectable 
characters of the community. On the day of our removal, not 



134 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

only the house in which we were confined, but the streets lead- 
ing to it, were crowded by men, women, and children, who by 
their countenances, sufficiently though silently expressed the 
grief they felt on the occasion. 

We reached Palmer's tavern some time after dark. The 
house not affording room or convenience to lodge us, leave was 
given us to go with some of our friends in the neighbourhood, 
several of whom attended to invite us, John Vanderin, Joseph 
Warner, and Dr. William Smith, who entertained us with 
kindness and hospitality. 

12th of 9th month. — We collected at Palmer's tavern, and 
set out between 8 and 9 o'clock, and reached the Black Horse, 
Hamilton's tavern, about 15 miles from Philadelphia, about 10 
o'clock, and went about three miles further, to Archibald 
Thompson's. Our friends, John Parrish and John Foreman, who 
accompanied us from town, took an affectionate leave of us. 
We stopped about sunset at the Widow Lloyd's tavern, about 
thirty miles from Philadelphia, but as we could not be accom- 
modated there, we went on to Pottsgrove, which we reached 
between seven and eight o'clock, thirty-seven miles from Phila- 
delphia. Several of our kind friends came to the tavern and 
invited us to their houses. As soon as we arranged we went 
with them and lodged at the houses of the Widow Potts, Samuel 
Potts, John Potts, David Potts, and Thomas Rutter, agreeing 
to meet our guards at the tavern, about eight o'clock next 
morning. 

13th of 9th month. — We met according to appointment, and 
as part of our baggage was left behind, we urged the necessity 
of staying here till it came up ; being advised that several of 
our friends in Philadelphia were using endeavours to forward 
it. Some of our company not having a second shirt, or their 
warm clothing, we remonstrated about being sent away with- 
out it, and our escort agreed we should remain at Pottsgrove 
till to-morrow at seven o'clock. 

We discovered to-day that William Antis, who holds the ap- 
pointment of sub-lieutenant of the county, had been sent to, for 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 135 

assistance, and we had reason to believe our detention here had 
been misrepresented to him, as well as a message sent by Peter 
De Haven to Reading. About three o'clock William Antis 
came to us, there having come near twenty armed men by his 
order, before that time. He urged the necessity of our going 
off, although before we could have got ready it would have 
been very late, and obliged us to ride most of the way in the 
night, in great danger of our lives, from the extreme badness 
of the roads ; and it was with difficulty he was prevailed on 
to permit our staying till morning. 

Here it is proper to remark that in our conference with S. 
Caldwell and A. Nesbitt, at twelve o'clock, the former of his 
own accord fully confirmed, as we had before stated, that he 
had further orders concerning us, as he then read instructions 
from the Board of War, signed by Richard Peters, directed 
to be handed by them to the several lieutenants of the counties 
through which we should pass on our way to Virginia, a copy 
of which was refused us ; but it was afterwards obtained and 
will appear. 

Pottsgrove, 14th day of 9th month, 1777. — This morning 
Levi Hollingsworth and Benjamin Bryant arrived with the 
writs of habeas corpus, for nine of our number, allowed by 
TJwmas MKean, Chief Justice, which were regularly served on 
Samuel Caldwell and Alexander Nesbitt, w 7 ho refused to obev 
them. 

Those among us who had not been included in the above 
writs, now agreed to send them forward for acceptance, which 
was accordingly done by Benjamin Bryant, and it since appears 
that Nathaniel Walker agreed to accompany him. The names 
of those persons now applying are as follows : 
John Hunt, Elijah Brown, 

Edward Pennington, Miers Fisher, 

William Smith, (broker,) Henry Drinker, 

Thomas Fisher, Owen Jones, Jr., 

John Pemberton, Samuel Rowland Fisher. 

Thomas Wharton, 



130 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



About nine o'clock we took leave of our kind friends at 
Pottsgrove, who had treated us with an extraordinary degree 
of hospitality, and expressed much sympathy for us, and a high 
approbation of our conduct. We passed through Bishop's 
Town, and arrived at Reading about two o'clock. 

On going through the town there appeared to be much enmity 
among the people, and some stones were thrown at us. This 
disposition was probably raised by a letter written by Samuel 
Caldwell to Jacob Morgan, called lieutenant of Bucks County, 
in which we were informed by Daniel Levan, he represented 
we had refused to leave Pottsgrove, and were endeavouring to 
procure ourselves to be rescued, which they said was the cause 
of the armed men going to Pottsgrove to assist our guards in 
compelling us to come forward. 

On our getting into the Widow Withington's, a house pro- 
vided for us, we found ourselves made close prisoners. Guards 
were put round the house, and the face of every thing much 
changed. Our friends, Isaac Zane and James Starr, coming 
to the door to speak to us, were violently pulled away, struck, 
and stoned, the former of whom was considerably bruised and 
hurt. 

Our friends were kept from us. Samuel Morris, who kindly 
sent us a dinner and some wine, soon after our arrival, being 
the only person admitted ; for it did not appear any provision 
had been made for us. In the evening we were informed that 
our friends could freely see us to-morrow. About five o'clock 
we sat down together in retirement, and thought a cloud seemed 
to hang over us, yet some comfort and consolation was in 
mercy extended. 

Reading, 15th of 9th month. — This morning Alexander 
Nesbitt set off for Philadelphia, as we apprehended to take 
advice respecting us ; and we wrote by him to our families. 

Our friend, Benjamin Lightfoot, sent us a plentiful dinner, 
and Edward Biddle, James Biddle, and Reynald Keen, furnished 
us with wine. 

About four o'clock, Benjamin Bryant and Nathaniel Walker 



SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 137 

returned with the writs of habeas corpus, which had been allowed 
by Thomas M'Kean, Chief Justice. Nathaniel Walker, after re- 
maining some time with us, went toward the inn returning home 

to Pottsgrove, and was called by Nagel to take the tests, 

and on his declining to do it, he was committed to jail. As he 
was employed only in the execution of a legal process un- 
known to us, it appeared a cruel case. Proper care was taken 
to supply him with bedding, &c, and his case recommended 
to our friends. Isaac Zane, jun., came up from Philadelphia, 
and brought us letters from our friends, which were examined 
by Samuel Morris, who had the care of us, in the temporary 
absence of Samuel Caldwell. 

Our supper this evening was sent us by Benjamin Lightfoot. 
Several of our friends had visited us during the day. 

16th and 17th of 9th month. — In the evening Alexander 
Nesbitt came up and brought us letters. They brought up a 
printed bill, introduced into the House of Assembly on the 15th 
inst., and read twice and passed on the 16th, to justify the 
President and Council in their arbitrary and unjust proceed- 
ings against us. It was to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, 
and deprive us and others from a trial, and the rights and pri- 
vileges secured by the law to freemen. 

It holds up a striking picture of the measures carrying on 
against the liberties of Pennsylvania, and we think it right to 
insert here a copy of it ; as follows : 

See the Pennsylvania Evening Post, vol. 3, No. 406. Thurs- 
day, September 18, 1777. 

" Philadelphia. 

" An Act to empower the Supreme Executive Council of this 
Commonwealth, to provide for the security thereof in special 
cases where no provision is already made by law. 

" Whereas, the preservation of this State and all its members, 



138 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

and of the army acting in support thereof, at the time of a 
hostile invasion, may require the immediate interposition of the 
Supreme Executive Council, when the judicial powers of the 
Government cannot, in the ordinary course of law, sufficiently 
provide for its security. 

"And whereas, for this important purpose the Supreme Ex- 
ecutive Council of this Commonwealth have lately, at the re- 
commendation of Congress, taken up several persons who have 
refused to give to the State the common assurance of their 
fidelity and peaceable behaviour, as required by law, and it is 
apprehended that there are still more such persons among us, 
who cannot at this juncture be safely trusted with their free- 
dom without giving proper security to the public. 

"Be it therefore enacted, and it is hereby enacted by the 
Representatives of the freemen of the Commonwealth of Penn- 
sylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the 
same, that it may and shall be lawful for the President, or Vice- 
President, and the members of the Supreme Executive Council 
of this State, or any two of them, either upon the recommen- 
dation of Congress, or at the requisition of the commander-in- 
chief of the army, or the commander of a division or corps in 
the same, or upon the information of any credible subject of 
this or any other of the United States, to arrest any person or 
persons within this Commonwealth, who shall be suspected 
from any of his or her acts, writings, speeches, conversations, 
travels, or other behaviour, to be disaffected to the community 
of this, or all, or any of the United States of America, or to be 
an harbinger of the common enemy, who is at our gates, or 
give mediate or immediate intelligence and warning to their 
commanders, by letters, messengers, or tokens, or by dis- 
couraging people from taking up arms for the defence of the 
country, or spreading false news, or doing any other thing to 
subvert the good order and regulations which are or may be 
made and pursued for the safety of the country, and to seize 
and examine such papers in their possession as shall in any 
wise affect the public : and the same persons being arrested, to 



SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 139 

confine or remove them to any distant place, where it will be 
out of their power to disturb the peace and safety of the States ; 
or to tender to them the oath or affirmation of allegiance and 
fidelity to the State, as directed by law ; and upon the taking 
and subscribing the same to enlarge them, or to demand and 
take such further and other security and assurance from them 
as the said President or Vice-President and Council, or any two 
of them, in their discretion shall think proper, or as the parti- 
cular circumstances of the case may require. 

" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that 
the President, Vice-President, and other members of the Su- 
preme Executive Council of this Commonwealth, and all per- 
sons acting by their special command in the premises, shall be 
and are hereby fully and absolutely indemnified and saved 
harmless from all process, suits, and actions, that shall or may 
be hereafter sued, commenced, prosecuted, or brought against 
them, or any or either of them, for, or in respect of any of their 
orders or proceedings heretofore issued and had upon the re- 
commendation of Congress, or which they shall hereafter issue, 
and have by virtue of this act. And that no judge or officer of 
the Supreme Court, or any inferior court within this Common- 
wealth, shall issue or allow of any writ of habeas corpus, or 
other remedial writ to obstruct the proceedings of the said 
Executive Council against suspected persons in this time of 
imminent danger to the State. ^ 

" Provided always, and it is hereby further enacted, by the 
authority aforesaid, that this act shall be in force to the end of 
the first sitting of the next General Assembly of this Common- 
wealth and no longer. 

" Enacted into a law, the sixteenth day of September, in the 
year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy- 
seven. 

" John Bayard, 

" Speaker. 

" John Morris, 

" Clerk of General Assembly." 



140 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Reading, 18th day of 9th month. — This morning Samuel 
Morris acquainted us we were to be sent off to-morrow to 
Winchester, in Virginia, and that no regard should be paid to 
the writs of habeas corpus. 

As we were about to be delivered over to Jacob Morgan, 
Lieutenant of Berks County, we represented to him as follows: 

1. That our stores needful for subsistence in travelling had 
not come on, nor our clothing, though by our letters they are 
on the road. 

2. The two baggage-wagons which came with us have gone 
away ; and no others provided in their place. The two addi- 
tional ones promised by Thomas Mifflin, to carry the residue 
of the stores, have not come on. 

3. Two of the travelling wagons which brought us have left 
us, and a third rendered useless. Four wagons ought to be 
added to those now here. 

4. John Pemberton, one of the prisoners, is very much indis- 
posed, and wholly unfit to be removed. 

To which we never received any answers. 

Soon in the day, Alexander Nesbitt and Jacob Morgan came 
to us, and Michael Hillegas and George Nagel were called in 
at our request as witnesses. 

Alexander Nesbitt called over our names, and was about to 
deliver us to the care of Jacob Morgan, previous to which we 
served on him the last writs of habeas corpus, for eleven of our 
members, which being read and delivered in due form, in pre- 
sence of said witnesses, he was charged in the name of us all, 
on his peril not to remove us in the manner they were about to 
do, but to pay due regard to the said writs. He nevertheless 
persisted, and delivered us over to the said Jacob Morgan. 
The said Michael Hillegas and George Nagel have certified 
the service of the said writs, as follows : 

Henry Drinker, Habeas corpus directed to Sa- 

Samuel Rowland Fisher, muel Caldwell, Alexander Nes- 

Miers Fisher, bitt, Jacob Morgan, John Oldt, 



SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 141 

Elijah Brown, and Joseph Hutton, returnable 

John Hunt, forthwith before chief justice. 

Owen Jones, jun., ----- The like w r rit. 
William Smith, (broker,) - The like writ. 

Thomas Fisher, - The like writ. 

Thomas Wharton, The like writ. 

Edward Pennington, The like writ. 

John Pemberton, The like writ. 

" The above writs were served on Alexander Nesbitt and 
Jacob Morgan, who then had the parties above named in their 
custody at Reading, in the county of Berks, in the presence of 
us. On this 18th day of September, 1777. 

" Michael Hilleoas. 
" George Nagel." 



On conversing with A. Nesbitt, we found he had some further 
instructions concerning us, wmcn at our request, he read to us. 
This proved to be a new warrant, dated the sixteenth inst., 
signed by George Bryan, Vice-President ; tested by Timothy 
Matlack, Secretary, and sealed with the lesser seal. 

This afternoon, the two w T agons from Philadelphia with the 
remainder of our stores arrived here. 

Miers Fisher wrote a letter to Thomas M'Kean, Chief 
Justice, informing him of our situation, and sent it by Benjamin 
Bryant. The following is a copy. 

Reading, September 18, 1777. 
TO THOMAS m'kEAN, ESQ. 

Respected Friend, 

From Pottstown, I wrote thee a short note in behalf of my- 
self and fellow-sufferers, requesting thee to allow writs of habeas 
corpus for eleven of us. The messengers, Benjamin Bryant 
and Nathaniel Walker, returned here on second day with them, 



1*12 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

" allowed." We are sorry to inform thee that some of the 
justices of this town ordered Nathaniel Walker, (a young man 
who offered his services voluntarily, and went with Benjamin 
Bryant without our knowledge as a guide and companion,) to 
be arrested and brought before them, and tendered him the 
" Test," and upon his declining to take it, committed him a 
close prisoner to the common jail. 

We consider this to be a breach of that privilege which per- 
sons executing civil process are entitled to, and an insult to the 
office of Chief Justice, whose writ he was entrusted to serve. 
We recommend his case to thy notice, and doubt not but if 
thou should concur with us in opinion, thou will grant a 
supersedeas to his commitment, and permit him to return to 
his mother, at Pottsgrove. 

We informed thee by those messengers, that our keepers 
were regularly served with the writs for those nine of us which 
were first applied for, and " allowed" We now acquaint thee 
that this day, the writs for the remaining eleven were also 
served on Alexander Nesbitt and Jacob Morgan, as will appear 
by the inclosed certificate, signed by the gentlemen who attended 
as witnesses. 

Alexander Nesbitt read us a paper, signed by the Secretary 
of Council, by which it appears he was ordered to deliver us 
here to Jacob Morgan and John Oldt, and by which they were 
directed to forward us from county to county, to Winchester, 
in Virginia, and accordingly, after calling us by name, de- 
livered us to Jacob Morgan, and soon after left the town. 

Jacob Morgan, upon being required to obey the writs, gave 
us for answer, that he knew the nature of writs of " habeas 
corpus," but that he had positive orders which he must obey. 
In this situation we now are, and have received notice to be 
ready to move forward toward Winchester to-morrow. We 
thought it to be our duty to acquaint thee with these circum- 
stances, that thou might have an opportunity to take such steps 
as thou should think proper, either to enforce obedience to 
them, or evince to the world that no fault lavs with ihee. 



SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT. 143 

We consider thy allowing tnesewms as a proof, not only of 
thy knowledge of the rights of freemen, but of thy desire to 
support them, as far as thy power extends, and as thou hast 
done thy part, and art entitled to the perquisites of thy office, 
we send by the bearer seventeen pounds ten shillings, being the 
sum to which twenty writs amount, at the rate of fees esta- 
blished by law. 

We sincerely wish thy attention to the rights of mankind in 
this, and all other instances that may come before thee, and 
are thy real well-wishers. In behalf of my fellow-sufferers. 
I am, with due respect, thy friend. 

Miers Fisher. 

Reading, 20th of 9th month. — Nothing material took place 
yesterday, except that several Friends from Exeter and Maiden 
Creek came to see us, and brought us provisions. About noon, 
Jacob Morgan and Daniel Levan acquainted us we were to go off 
to-day ; and Jacob Morgan delivered us over to Daniel Levan, 
read us the last warrant and instructions, dated the 16th inst., 
signed by George Bryan, respecting us, and promised us a 
copy of it. 

William Lewis, Esq., who left Philadelphia in the morning, 
brought us letters, and an agreeable account of our several 
families. 

21st of 9th month. — Most of our baggage being put in three 
wagons, and our stores in a fourth, we were ready to set off; 
but our friend, John Pemberton, having been much indisposed 
for several days past, and now not fit to be removed, though he 
was resigned to go or stay, the matter was mentioned to 
Daniel Levan, who was very kindly disposed, but on consulting 
with Shoemaker and Christ, they determined he should proceed, 
which unkind conduct needs no comment. 

Most of us set off about ten o'clock, passed over the ford of 
Schuylkill, dined at Womelsdorf, and reached Lebanon before 
dark, where we w 7 ere very kindly and courteously received, 
and entertained by the inhabitants and neighbours, who pre- 
pared for us. 



144 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Curtis Grubb, Esq., wem- about from house to house to see 
that we were treated with kindness, and desired to know if any 
person should attempt to treat us in an ungenteel manner, that 
he might call them to account. He acted in the station of 
lieutenant of Lancaster, having here a battalion of American 
troops under his command, who with some of the lower class 
of people did not seem kindly disposed towards us, yet by his 
attention they were kept quiet. In all parts of his behaviour, 
he seemed desirous to make our condition as easy as possible. 

There are confined here about six hundred Hessians, and 
about three hundred more left the town two days ago for Win- 
chester ; these were of the Hessians taken at Trenton on the 
night of the 24th of 12th month last. 

22d day of 9th month. — We left Lebanon about ten o'clock, 
dined at Hummeltown: while there several of our company went 
about a mile to see the great cave, a subterranean cavern sup- 
ported internally by limestone rocks, through which the water 
dripping in many places, forms pillars, or petrifies. The water 
turns to stone any object on which it falls, as straw, leaves, &c. 

We crossed the Swatara creek, and reached Harris's Ferry 
in the evening, where John Harris entertained us with the best 
he had ; though our lodgings were by no means decent or 
clean. The house is of sixty-four feet front, and well built and 
finished. 

We have passed, during the last three days through a very 
fertile country, between the North and South mountains. 

28th day of 9th month. — About nine o'clock our four bag- 
gage wagons were driven into the Susquehanna River at the 
ford, about a mile over, and followed immediately by two one- 
horse chairs, seven of our company, and one of our servants 
on horseback ; the next partly in two canoes, and partly in the 
carriages, attended by seven guards on horseback. We reached 
the western shore about eleven o'clock. The water, crossing, 
was about three feet in depth. On landing, we received a 
present of six large rockfish, sent us by William Patterson, 
who lives in the neighbourhood. We reached Carlisle about 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 145 

four o'clock, where we met with an agreeable reception. We 
stopped at White's tavern, where several of the inhabitants 
came to see us ; but the inn not affording sufficient accommoda- 
tion, six of us accepted invitations to lodge out among the in- 
habitants, where we were very kindly entertained. 

Carlisle, 24th and 25th of 9th month. — Unlading and ad- 
justing our baggage ; remained at the inn, &c. 25th, morning. 
Daniel Levan having let us know the wagons were ready 
again, our stores and baggage were put into them, to go off 
in the morning. We received a letter from Doctor Kearsly, 
now closely confined in the county jail, expressing a desire to 
see us ; but as it could not be done without giving offence, we 
declined it, but sent him a verbal message by Charles Lukens. 

We now demanded of Daniel Levan, copies of the papers 
he had related to us; and he left them with us for the purpose. 
They are as follows, certified by him. 

"IN COUNCIL. 

"Philadelphia, September 10th, 1777: 
" Sir, 

" The subject of the present letter is the removal of several 
gentlemen of this city, by orders of Council, and of the State. 

" They have uniformly manifested, in their general: conduct 
and conversation, a disposition highly inimical to the cause of 
America. Their stay of course in this city, in the time of in- 
vasion and danger, is become highly improper.. 

" You will find by the enclosed instructions the place they 
are destined for, and the mode of removing them. Messrs. 
Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell, two of the light 
horse militia of this city, with a party of City Guards on horse- 
back, are the escort to Reading. These gentlemen will be able 
to inform you of the guard it will be proper to send forward. 

" The first plan was to send a sufficient party of these light 
horse to Virginia, but the present approach of General Howe, 
calls them to camp. I therefore must request you to look out 

10 



146 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

for a person of humanity, good breeding, and firmness, to 
superintend the further conveyance of these gentlemen to 
Staunton, and to assist with a proper escort mounted on 
horseback. 

" You may see by the instructions for this officer, which are 
enclosed, that all politeness towards the prisoners, and due 
attention to their comfort is desired ; every charge from you 
on this head will doubtless be given. 

" I send you by John Oldt, Esq., the sum of five hundred 
pounds, to be applied to defray the expenses of the journey. 
Messrs. Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell have received 
the sum of one hundred pounds, for the same purpose, till the 
prisoners are delivered to you; they will pay you the remainder, 
after providing for their own charges homeward. 

" You have also with this letter, an order directed to the 
-lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of Lancaster and Cumberland 
counties, to give you every necessary assistance, and Messrs. 
Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell will deliver to you 
the despatches for the War Office of Congress, relative to their 
passage through Maryland and Virginia, and reception at 
Staunton. It will be proper that you add to these an open letter 
to the lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of Lancaster and Cumber- 
land counties, and all other officers of this State and elsewhere, 
attesting and certifying that your superintendent is the officer 
entrusted with this business. 

" The light wagons must necessarily go on, and likewise the 
heavy ones, unless others are substituted. This information is 
given betimes, that no delay may take place at Reading. 

" Thomas Wharton, Jr., 

«« President." 

Endorsed, 

" To Colonel Jacob Morgan, Lieutenant of the County of 
Berks. 

" A true copy, taken from and compared with the original. 

" Daniel Levan, Jr. 
"Carlisle, September 25th, 1777." 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 147 

"IN COUNCIL. 

"Philadelphia, September 10th, 1777. 
" Sir, 

" The bearer hereof, Daniel Levan, Esq., is appointed by 
Colonel Jacob Morgan, to superintend an escort, conducting a 
number of disaffected persons to Staunton, in Virginia, by 
order of Council ; any assistance which may be found neces- 
sary in this duty, you are hereby requested to afford them. 
" I am, with great respect, 

" Your very humble servant, 

" George Bryan, 

" Vice-President. 

" To the lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of the counties of 
Lancaster and Cumberland." 

" A true copy, taken from the original. 

" Daniel Levan, Jr. 
"Carlisle, September 25th, 1777." 

N. B. — This was sent to Reading with a blank space for the 
bearers' names, which was filled up by Jacob Morgan, with the 
name of Daniel Levan, Esq. 

"IN COUNCIL. 

" Philadelphia, September 10th, 1777. 

" Instructions to the gentlemen to whom Colonel Jacob Mor- 
gan, Lieutenant of Berks County, shall commit the charge of 
certain prisoners, sent from Philadelphia, for Staunton, in Vir- 
ginia, under the conduct of Messrs. Alexander Nesbitt and 

, who are to deliver them to the said Colonel 

Morgan, at Reading. 

" You will proceed by the common road through Carlisle with 
these persons, to Staunton, in Augusta, in the State of Virginia* 



148 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

You will send them with light, covered wagons, in such manner 
as not to be crowded. Your careful attendance throughout 
will be necessary. Every suitable accommodation should be 
procured for them on the way. But while you manifest polite- 
ness and tenderness, a proper degree of firmness and watchful- 
ness will also be required. 

"With these instructions, you have an order directed to the 
lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of Lancaster and Cumberland 
counties, to aid you in all cases which may be needful. 

" If the gentlemen prisoners, or any of them, prefer carriages 
provided by themselves, they are to be permitted to use them, 
but they are to keep them through the journey. 

" When you get into Maryland and Virginia, you will look 
into the despatches from the War Office, and take directions 
from them. 

"You will, we doubt not, in consequence, be assisted by the 
officers of these States, and on your arrival at Staunton, the 
prisoners are to be received and treated according to their 
stations. 

" The proper sum of money will be advanced by Colonel 
Morgan, to defray the expenses of the gentlemen committed to 
your care. Of the escort, the wagons, and all other expenses, 
a regular account should be kept, and vouchers preserved. 

" Here follows a list of the prisoners, to wit : 
James Pemberton, Israel Pemberton, 

Miers Fisher, John Hunt, 

John Pemberton, Thomas Pike, 

Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Fisher, 

Thomas Gilpin, Henry Drinker, 

Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) Elijah Brown, 

Owen Jones, jun., William Smith, (broker,) 

Edward Pennington, Thomas Wharton, 

William Drewet Smith, Charles Jervis, 

Charles Eddy, Thomas Affleck. 

" Extract from the minutes. 

" Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary." 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 149 

" A true copy, taken from and compared with the original. 

" Daniel Levan, Jun. 
" Carlisle, September 25th, 1777." 



" Pennsylvania, ss. 

[ls.] " j n council. 

" Philadelphia, September 16, 1777. 

" Whereas, Israel Pemberton, James Pemberton, John Pem- 
berton, Thomas Wharton, Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) 
John Hunt, Miers Fisher, Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) 
Edward Pennington, Henry Drinker, Samuel Pleasants, Owen 
Jones, jun., Thomas Gilpin, Charles Jervis, Thomas Affleck, 
William Drewet Smith, Thomas Pike, William Smith, (broker,) 
Elijah Brown, and Charles Eddy, have, in consequence of the 
recommendation of Congress, been arrested by the Supreme 
Executive Council of Pennsylvania, as persons whose uniform 
conduct and conversation has evidenced that they are highly 
inimical to the thirteen United States of 
George Bryan, North America, and to the Commonwealth 
Vice-President. of Pennsylvania in particular, they having 
also declined to give any assurance of alle- 
giance to this State, as of right they ought ; and whereas, it 
appears necessary for the public safety at this time, when the 
State is invaded by a large army of enemies, that the said per- 
sons and every of them should be removed from the county of 
Philadelphia and secured at some place remote from the army 
of the enemy. 

" These are, therefore, to authorize, and empower, and require 
Samuel Caldwell and Alexander Nesbitt, with proper necessary 
assistants, to receive the bodies of the said Israel Pemberton, 
James Pemberton, John Pemberton, John Hunt, Thomas Fisher, 
(son of Joshua,) Thomas Wharton, Owen Jones, jun., Samuel 
Fisher, (son of Joshua,) Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Affleck, 
Miers Fisher, Thomas Pike, Thomas Gilpin, William Drewet 
Smith, William Smith, (broker,) Elijah Brown, Edward Pen- 
nington, Henry Drinker, Charles Jervis, and Charles Eddy, 



150 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

from Lewis Nicola, Esq., in whose keeping they have been 
holden, and them, and every of them to convey and conduct to 
Reading, in Berks County, and there to deliver to Jacob Mor- 
gan, Esq., Lieutenant of the said county of Berks, or to John 
Oldt, Esq., one of the sub-lieutenants of the said county of 
Berks. And you, the said Jacob Morgan, and you, the said 
John Oldt, or either of you, or by persons by you or either of 
you appointed, are hereby commanded and authorized to re- 
ceive into your custody, or the custody of either of you, the 
bodies of the said Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, James Pem- 
berton, John Pemberton, Thomas Wharton, Edward Penning- 
ton, Henry Drinker, Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) Miers 
Fisher, Thomas Gilpin, Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) Owen 
Jones, Samuel Pleasants, Charles Jervis, Thomas Affleck, 
William Drewet Smith, Thomas Pike, William Smith, (broker,) 
Elijah Brown, and Charles Eddy, from the said Samuel Cald- 
well and Alexander Nesbitt, as aforesaid, and any and every of 
them the said persons represented as inimical and dangerous, 
with the aid and help of proper and effectual assistants, to con- 
vey and conduct to the town of Winchester, in the Common- 
wealth of Virginia, there to be secured and detained till further 
orders can be had concerning them, and meanwhile to be 
treated, as well on the road to Winchester as in and after 
arrival there, with all the humanity and attention their cha- 
racters and stations require, not inconsistent with the securing 
of their persons. And the lieutenants and sub-lieutenants of the 
several counties of this State, and all officers of militia within 
the same, are hereby required to be aiding to the said Samuel 
Caldwell and Alexander Nesbitt, Jacob Morgan and John 
Oldt, and the persons employed by them in conveying and 
carrying the inimical and dangerous persons aforesaid, in the 
manner and to the place above mentioned. 

Given under the Less Seal of the Common- 
[l.s.] wealth of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, 

the day and year above written. 
" Attest, Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary." 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 151 

" A true copy, taken from the original, and compared there- 
with, per 

" Daniel Levan, Jun. 
" Carlisle, September 25th, 1777." 

" A list of the prisoners ordered by the Supreme Executive 
Council, agreeably to the recommendation of Congress, to be 
removed to Staunton, in Augusta County, in the State of Vir- 
ginia : 

James Pemberton, John Hunt, 

Henry Drinker, Charles Jervis, 

Israel Pemberton, William Drewet Smith, 

John Pemberton, Charles Eddy, 

Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Pike, 

Thomas Wharton, Owen Jones, Jr., 

Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) Edward Pennington, 
Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) William Smith, (broker,) 
Miers Fisher, Elijah Brown, 

Thomas Gilpin, Thomas Affleck. 



" Philadelphia, September 10th, 1777. 



" Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary. 



" War Office, September 10th, 1777. 

" The within-mentioned persons, prisoners, taken and confined 
by the Honourable, the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, will 
be guarded through this State, on their way to Staunton, in 
Augusta County, in Virginia, where they are directed to reside, 
and to which place they are to be safely conveyed by direction 
of the said Council ; but after passing the limits of this State, 
the lieutenants of the counties, or commanding officers of the 
militia of the several counties in the States of Maryland and 
Virginia, adjacent to, or through which the road to Staunton 
runs, are desired to furnish proper guards, from time to time, 
within the several jurisdictions, as occasion may require, taking 
care that no unnecessary delay is used, and exercising every 



1 52 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

indulgence towards the prisoners consistent with the safety of 
their persons. Every means is to be used to expedite the journey. 
The officers of the guards, from time to time, will see that the 
prisoners are treated agreeably to their characters and be- 
haviour, but will prevent their spreading abroad any papers 
through the country, or by other means, under the mask of 
justifying themselves, disseminating sedition, discord, and un- 
easiness among the good people of these States. These orders 
to be delivered over by the officer first receiving it, to his suc- 
cessor, and finally to be lodged with the lieutenant or com- 
manding officer of militia, in Augusta County, Virginia, 
together with the letter directed to him. 

" By order of the Board of War. 

" Richard Peters, 

" Secretary." 



"Reading, September 17th, 1777. 

" As I have seen the orders of the Executive Council of 
Pennsylvania, who have had the management of this business, 
whereby it appears the prisoners are not to proceed to 
Staunton, I have detained the letter to the lieutenant of Augusta, 
mentioned above, and as no doubt Congress have sent orders 
for their being detained at Winchester, the lieutenant of the 
county will be pleased to regulate himself by any order of 
Congress which may be produced by him, if no such order 
appears. The above directions are to be pursued. 

" Richard Peters, 

" Secretary at War." 

" A true copy, taken from and compared with the original. 

" Daniel Levan, Jr. 
"Carlisle, September 25th, 1777." 



journey to virginia. 153 

" Gentlemen, — 

" The President and Council, by a special war- 
[l.s.] rant, under the less seal of the Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania, to me directed, have ordered 
the removal of several gentlemen from this place to Winchester, 
in Virginia, there to remain under a proper guard, until furiher 
orders. They have uniformly manifested in their general cha- 
racter and conversation, a disposition highly inimical to the 
cause of America. 

" These are, therefore, to attest and certify that I have 
nominated, constituted, and appointed Daniel Levan, Jr., Esq., 
High Sheriff of Berks County, in the said Commonwealth, the 
officer and superintendent of the said business. 

"And I do hereby, in pursuance of certain powers to me 
given, earnestly request and desire the lieutenant, and sub- 
lieutenant, and all other officers, civil and military, in this State 
and elsewhere, to be aiding and assisting in the removal of the 
said gentlemen to Winchester aforesaid. And that all polite- 
ness to the prisoners and due attention to their comfort is 
earnestly required. 

" Given under my hand and seal, at Reading, in the county 
of Berks, the 20th day of September, A. D. 1777. 

" Jacob Morgan, 

" Lieutenant." 

"■To all lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, and other officers, civil 
and military, in the State of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere." 

Endorsed : 

" To the lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, and all other officers, 
civil and military, in the Thirteen United States of America. 

" Daniel Levan, Jr." 

From these papers may be easily seen the irregular manner 
in which the Council proceeded through this whole business. 
An order was made for our removal, and delivered to 



154 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell, a copy of which we 
have not procured. That only related to our journey as far as 
Reading. From thence we were to be taken to Staunton by 
virtue of the papers dated September 10th, by which it appears 
that Council gave power to Jacob Morgan to choose our con- 
ductor, and fill up a blank space left in the warrant in his 
appointment with his name. 

When the writs of habeas corpus were served on our keepers 
at Pottsgrove, they were at a loss what to do, and the Council 
equally puzzled. Yet, determined to blunder through the 
matter, issued the warrant dated the 16th, which is directed 
to our keepers at Philadelphia, and commands them to re- 
move us to Reading, though we had been removed five days 
before it was dated. The intention in this jumble of incon- 
sistencies was, probably, to supersede the writs of habeas 
corpus by a warrant of a later date, which they apprehended 
would more readily be obeyed than the writs ; to insure which, 
they procured the Assembly to publish an intended act to in- 
demnify all persons acting contrary to law under their authority. 

This bill, though not known at that time to be enacted into a 
law, had the desired effect, and induced the lieutenant of Berks 
to send us forward. 

The alteration of our residence, from Staunton to Win- 
chester, we understand was made at the instance of Isaac 
Zane, Jr., without our knowledge ; but the latter warrant con- 
taining no countermand of former orders, our keepers thought 
it necessary to apply to Richard Peters, who happened to be 
at Reading. He undertook, without consulting the Board of 
War, to write the note dated the 17th, at the foot of the 
directions from that office, and to detain the letter respecting 
us, directed to the lieutenant of Augusta County, not certainly 
knowing that we should be stopped at Winchester, and without 
giving any instructions to the lieutenant, or to any other person 
there concerning us. 

Carlisle, 26th of 9th month. — We all put forward before 
eight o'clock, being joined by two additional guards. We met 



JOUKNEY TO VIRGINIA. 155 

with no insult during our stay at Carlisle, but on our leaving it, 
a number of armed men, who were on their way to the camp, 
and one of them, who presented his gun at most of us, made 
use of abusive and threatening language. We dined seven 
miles from Carlisle, at Robert Semple's inn ; he treated us 
kindly, and we set off early and reached Shippensburg at four 
o'clock, where we had very good quarters. 

We were confirmed here in an account we had at Lebanon, 
that a malicious and false representation of us and of our 
Society, by an anonymous writer, which had been published in 
Bradford's paper before we left Philadelphia, had been reprinted 
in a handbill by William and Thomas Bradford, and sent into 
this part of the country to deceive people, and encourage them 
against us. It is worthy of thankful remembrance, that as we 
were setting together this evening, our minds were drawn into 
a solemn quiet and peace, and w T e had renewed cause to trust 
in our Great Preserver, whose good presence was sensibly felt 
among us. 

In Thomas Gilpin's Journal, he writes, " Very false ideas 
and information are spread through the country concerning us, 
by which people are grossly imposed upon, and made to be- 
lieve that we are the cause of distress and bloodshed, instead 
of those who are really the cause of it ; and which false 
opinion ought to be set right." 

27th. — We left Shippensburg about eight o'clock, and 
reached Henry Pauling's, twenty-four miles, at night ; on our 
way we stopped at Chamberstown to dinner, but there was 
none to be had. We fed the horses, and got some bread and 
cheese out of our wagons. Henry Pauling's was a private 
house, but small ; he treated us very kindly. We had to obtain 
lodging through the neighbourhood. Most of our guards were 
also dispersed. Four of us, John Hunt, Thomas Wharton, 
Thomas Fisher, and Miers Fisher, went three miles off the 
road to Dr. Kneavely's tavern. Henry Drinker and Samuel 
Pleasants, to William Allison's. Thomas Gilpin to the Widow 



156 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



Smith's. The remainder of the company well accommodated, 
though several of them laid on straw before the fire. 

28th day of 9th month. — This morning, the four persons who 
were at Dr. Kneavely's went forward, and at about four 
miles, met with most of the guards at a house on the road, 
where they had lodged, and concluded to go on to Watkins's 
Ferry, at the Potomac River, to make what provisions they 
could for the company, expecting us all to dine there. 

They stopped at the house on the north side, where the land- 
lord absolutely refused to receive the company, but said they 
could be accommodated at the house on the south side. While 
the horses were crossing the ford, Adam Drinkhouse, one of the 
guards, overtook them, to stop them ; the rest came up, but on 
representing what had passed at the ferry-house, he crossed 
the river with them, to wait on the south side. But there was 
no provision made ; every thing was in a wretched state, and 
so continued from place to place, being at several other places 
refused admittance, till they came to a tavern about twenty 
miles on, called the Red House, kept by Robert Watts, where 
they got some refreshment. Some of the company, John Pem- 
berton and others, who stayed at Pauling's last night, were not 
satisfied to go on, but stopped at the line of Maryland, about 
three and a half miles, to see the sheriff, and make a protest at 
being taken out of the State of Pennsylvania, and from thence 
to go into Virginia, which they did before witnesses. The 
witnesses were Henry Pauling and William Atkinson, jun., and 
the persons protested against were, William Lower, Leonard 
Thomas, who acted as guards at Chamberstown, and Beamer, 
the schoolmaster. 

We sent for our friend Edward Beason, who lives about half 
a mile further, who came with Lewis Walker ; and our friends 
Edward Pennington, Owen Jones, jun., William Smith, S. R. 
Fisher, Thomas Affieck, Charles Eddy, Charles Jervis, Elijah 
Brown, James Pemberton, and Thomas Gilpin, came up, and 
at the Red House, E. Beason's, and Lewis Walker's, sixteen of 
us were lodged. 



JOURNEY TO VIRGINIA. 157 

29th. — Israel Pemberton, John Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 
and Samuel Pleasants, had stayed at Robert Watts's. They, 
together with Thomas Pike and William Drewet Smith, pro- 
tested at Henry Pauling's, near the line of Maryland, and at 
Eli Williams's, on the north side of the Potomac, against being 
sent out of Pennsylvania into Maryland, and thence into Vir- 
ginia, and against the force used to take them. 

We sent off a person to our friend Isaac Zane, to inform him 
of our coming, and having dined at about twelve miles, reached 
Winchester at about six o'clock, where we were conducted 
to the Inn of Philip Bush. Thomas Gilpin, Thomas Fisher, 
Samuel R. Fisher, and Miers Fisher, went to Rachael Hollings- 
worth's to lodge. 

In the evening we met with Isaac Zane, jun. John Smith, 
Lieutenant of Frederick County, Colonel and Lieutenant- 
Sheriff M'Levan, and Colonel Lowther came to see us. 

Daniel Levan delivered to Lieutenant John Smith, the several 
papers respecting us. They were read in his hearing, and 
some remarks were made. The Lieutenant offered to give us 
the liberty of the town if we would promise not to converse 
with the people on any political subject. 

In answer to this, we told him that our principles restrained 
us from joining in any party strife, contention, or wars ; but as 
we did not fully understand the extent of his restrictions, it 
would be better for us to consider about them. In the course 
of our conversation he assured us he did not mean to restrict 
us from justifying ourselves. 

In regard to the papers delivered him, he remarked they 
were very much confused, and did not contain such directions 
as would authorize him to take charge of us, as he did not 
look upon himself obliged to obey any orders of Congress or 
the Council of Pennsylvania, unless he had the sanction of the 
executive powers of this government. 

This evening, a packet, directed to the Lieutenant of Augusta 
County, endorsed " War Office, on Public Service," and sent 
forward by our escort from Reading, was opened in the pre- 



158 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

sence of some of us, when it was found to contain nothing but 
a Philadelphia newspaper, replete with malicious forgeries and 
falsehoods, all of which were manifestly intended to prejudice 
the minds of the people and lay us open to insult and abuse. 

As we could not all be accommodated with lodgings at 
Philip Bush's, Henry Drinker and Charles Eddy went to 
Benjamin Shreeve's, William Smith and Elijah Brown, to 
Frederick Conrad's, and Thomas Gilpin, Thomas Fisher, 
Samuel R. Fisher, and Miers Fisher, to Rachael Hollings- 
worth's, about a mile out of town. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA. 

Winchester, 30th of 9th month. — On considering the manner 
of our being sent here, and our present situation, we thought it 
necessary to draw up some queries for the consideration of 
John Smith, which having agreed to were accordingly de- 
livered to him, and are as follows : 

The inhabitants of Philadelphia, now at Philip Bush's, think 
it proper to inform the Lieutenant of the County of Frederick of 
some circumstances attending their removal from Pennsylvania, 
and to propose to his consideration others which relate to their 
future situation. 

They were arrested in their dwellings in and near the city 
of Philadelphia, and confined some days, by the order of the 
President and Supreme Council of the State of Pennsylvania. 

They remonstrated repeatedly to them the injustice of the 
proceeding, and, asserting their innocence, demanded a hear- 
ing as the inherent right of every freeman, but could obtain 
none. They were ordered to be sent to Virginia unheard. In 
order to avail themselves hereafter, they protested regularly 
against all the proceedings respecting them as arbitrary, un- 
just, and unwarranted by any law. They were removed from 
their families by force, (after having again protested against 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 159 

all the actors under the President and Council,) to Reading, 
where writs of habeas corpus allowed by the Chief Justice of 
Pennsylvania, were served on their keepers, who refused to obey 
them. They were removed from thence to S. Pauling's, near 
the line of Maryland, where they again protested against 
the power of their keepers to carry them beyond that line. 
They were then brought to the Slate of Virginia, where they 
protested in the same manner. All these protests were regu- 
larly made in the presence of witnesses. 

Thus far they thought it their duty to acquaint the Lieute- 
nant of Frederick, and at the same time acknowledge the po- 
liteness he has shown in the conferences they had with him. 
They now propose to him the following questions, the answers 
to which they request him to give them in writing, viz. : 

1st. Whether he conceives from the papers delivered to him 
by Daniel Levan and Isaac Zane, that they are the prisoners 
of Congress, or of the Council of Pennsylvania, or prisoners of 
war? 

2d. Whether, if he deems them prisoners of Congress, he 
has any authority to take charge of them ? 

3d. Whether, if he deems them prisoners of the Council of 
Pennsylvania, do any of the papers give him authority to take 
charge of them ? 

4th. If he considers himself authorized to take charge of them, 
whether he will provide for their comfortable accommodation 
at Winchester, according to their character and stations, as 
the papers referred, to direct 1 

Winchester, 30th of 9th month, 1777. 

Several of our friends having called to see us last evening 
and this morning, we were informed it had given great offence. 
This laid us under the disagreeable necessity of requesting 
them to discontinue their visits until the people should be re- 
conciled to our being here, but this did not appear to be the 
case. We believed it owing to the conduct of our guards, who 
prejudiced the minds of the people before under wrong impres- 
sions. 



160 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

A number of armed men, said to be about thirty, collected 
about noon at the door of our lodgings, demanding our imme- 
diate removal. But after some time, and several proposals, it 
was agreed that we should confine ourselves to the house, and 
have no communication with any of the inhabitants. A guard 
was placed at the door by Lieutenant John Smith, and in a few 
hours he acquainted us he had prevailed on the people to suffer 
us to remain till he could write to Congress and the Governor 
of Virginia, for further directions concerning us. 

We collected together this evening in a degree of retirement 
and religious quiet, and advice was dropped exciting us to a 
steady reliance on the arm of Almighty Power, under every 
afflicting and trying dispensation. 

Our whole company is accommodated this evening at Philip 
Bush's, with the help of our own bedding. 

This day, about three hundred Hessians, (of those taken at 
Trenton, by General Washington,) sent by Isaac Zane from 
Lebanon, were drawn up and parcelled out to the country 
people to work; some sent to the public works, by which they 
are gainers, as they have their pay from the Crown of England, 
and are paid also by the people for their work here. 

This scheme, or plan, has many consequences. There are 
six hundred more of them at Lebanon, and they are hired out 
at $7 50 per month, to be returned when called for. 

Winchester, 1st of 10th month, 1777. — This morning, after 
a further conference with the Lieutenant, John Smith, he pro- 
posed to write to the Governor of Virginia and Congress, for 
directions concerning us ; and we were to do so also, each 
showing the letters to the other. Thomas Wharton, Edward 
Pennington, James Pemberton, and Miers Fisher, were ap- 
pointed to prepare an address to the Governor and Council of 
Virginia, and a remonstrance to Congress, to go with John 
Smith's letters. 

About noon, Daniel Levan and John Smith attended. John 
Smith repeated what he had said before, concerning the papers, 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 161 

and refusing to take charge of us, but he concluded to accept 
a conditional charge over us, and he gave a receipt, which 
Daniel Levan gave us the substance of, as follows: 

Daniel Levan, jun., had offered to deliver into the charge of 
John Smith, Lieutenant of Frederick County, Virginia, the 
several persons, (whose names are mentioned,) but he cannot 
deliver them as prisoners, from the confused manner in which 
the papers concerning them are drawn up, as well as the pre- 
sent disposition of the inhabitants of the town of Winchester. 
He therefore agrees to place a guard over them till further in- 
structions can be had from the Governor of Virginia. 

The following are copies of two letters ordering our being 
stopped at Winchester, delivered to us by Isaac Zane. 

"Philadelphia, 17th of September, 1777. 
" Sir,— 

" A new application has been made to Congress on behalf of 
the prisoners who are gone for Staunton, in Virginia. 

" It is represented that at Winchester they may be more 
comfortably accommodated and equally well secured. In my 
former letters on this subject, Winchester or Augusta were 
proposed. Congress fixed on Staunton. Theydoubtless had 
their reasons ; but if it now appears proper to stop them at 
Winchester, directions from your body to the Board of War y 
can dispose matters accordingly ; for it is a matter of in- 
difference to Council. 

" I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant, 

" Thomas Wharton, jun., 

" President. 
" John Hancock, Esq." 

" To the County Lieutenant of Frederick County, Virginia,, 
and to the commanding officer who has charge of the above 
prisoners. 

11 



162 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

" The Continental Board of War have directed me to 
communicate to you their consent, that the said prisoners be 
stopped at Winchester, and there accommodated according to 
former instructions. 

" John Adams, 

" Chairman. 
"Philadelphia, September 13, 1777." 

John Smith, the Lieutenant, gave us a copy of his letter to 
the Congress, which contains some matters injurious to the 
Society in general ; those parts being remarked upon by John 
Hunt, Henry Drinker, and James Pemberton, he made some 
alterations, and allowed us to take a copy, which is as follows : 

"Virginia, Frederick, Winchester, October 1st, 1777. 
" Sir,— 

" Two days since, the Sheriff of Berks County, in the State 
of Pennsylvania, arrived at this place with charge of a number 
of prisoners, sent by the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 
with the approbation of Congress, to the care of the Lieutenant 
of this county. 

" The peculiar situation of these prisoners has left me at a 
loss what part to take. On examining the papers addressed to 
the sheriff, I found the orders so exceedingly confused that I 
could not discover upon what terms the prisoners should be re- 
ceived, nor in what manner they were to be supported during 
their continuance here. 

" The sheriff informed me they were sent to Winchester at 
the 'public expense; and the prisoners expected to be maintained 
in the same manner while in confinement. As I have received 
no orders sufficiently positive to make such provisions, and as it 
is contrary to the usual mode of treating men of their order 
in this State, / have refused to make any such engagement, nor 
can I say that I have received the prisoners agreeably to any 
order whatever, my reasons for which I hope will be a sufficient 
excuse. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 163 

" The inhabitants in this part of the country are, in general, 
much exasperated against the whole Society of Quakers. The 
people were taught to suppose these people were Tories, and 
the leaders of the Quakers, — and two more offensive stigmas, in 
their estimation, could not be fixed upon men ; in short, they 
determined not to permit them to remain in Winchester, for 
fear of their holding a correspondence with the Friends of the 
adjoining counties. 

" It was with the utmost exertion of my influence with an 
enraged multitude, that I prevented the greatest violence being 
offered to these men, and that only upon a promise that they 
should be continued here no longer than Congress should give 
orders for their removal. 

" These, sir, have been the reasons which have induced me 
to write to Congress upon the subject ; for / can assure you 
their lives will be endangered by their staying at Winchester. 
I have sent you a copy of such orders as I have received, and 
a list of the prisoners' names. 

" I shall write to Governor Henry and acquaint him with 
what has been done in respect of the prisoners, so that what- 
ever orders Congress shall think proper to make, the sanction 
of the executive power of this State, I presume, will be ready 
to receive them here. 

" I am, Sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 
" John Smith, 
" Lieutenant of Frederick County. 

" In justice to the -prisoners I can but inform you that their 
behaviour, since they have been at this place, has truly been 
inoffensive, and such as could give umbrage to no person 
whatever. 

" To the Honourable John Hancock, Esquire." 



In the afternoon the committee reported an essay of a remon- 



164 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

strance to Congress, which was corrected and to be ready 
to accompany John Smith's letter ; it being as follows : 

" Winchester, 1st day of 10th month, 1777. 
" TO THE CONGRESS. 

" The remonstrance of the subscribers, citizens of Philadel- 
phia, now confined under strict guard in the town of Win- 
chester, sheweth : 

" That in pursuance of your recommendation, we have been 
taken up on suspicion of being dangerous men, inimical to our 
country, and holding correspondence with the British army. 
The truth of which we have heretofore, and yet do utterly 
deny. 

" That the President and Council of Pennsylvania, upon 
your information, and as we have cause to believe, with your 
concurrence, have banished us to a part of this Continent of 
which we have heard very disagreeable accounts, but which, 
from our short experience, far exceeds the description. 

" The lieutenant of this county has informed us that the 
orders he has received respecting us are not such as required 
his taking charge of or providing a support for us, but that, 
from the disposition of the people towards us, he has, out of 
regard for our personal safety, undertaken to protect us, until 
further instructions from you, confirmed by the executive 
power from whom he derives his authority, be obtained. 

"In this difficult situation we now find ourselves among 
strangers, whose passions and prejudices have been excited 
against us ; who, from the manner of our being sent here, are 
impressed with a notion that we have been convicted of some 
heinous offences, and cannot be persuaded that any public 
body in America, would so severely punish men on bare sus- 
picion, and who disclaim the right of the Council of Pennsyl- 
vania to send persons so circumstanced out of their own 
government. 

" And we here think proper to mention a fact that has come 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 165 

to our knowledge, which of itself shows the rancour we have 
been persecuted with, and our safety endangered. A packet, 
directed to the lieutenant of one of the counties, who was to 
have the charge of us, sent forward by our escort, and endorsed, 
' War Office, on public service,' was opened in our presence, 
and was found to contain nothing but a newspaper fraught with 
anonymous falsehoods and forgeries, tending to render us odious 
in the eyes of the people. 

" Had the President and Council meant only to secure our 
persons, and prevented our correspondence, as they pretended to 
fear, we should have thought places might have been found for 
that purpose without endangering our lives. 

" If you or the Council were ignorant of the state of this 
country, it might be some apology for sending us here ; and 
your withdrawing us from it upon hearing our danger, will 
show the sincerity of those declarations you have made in 
favour of us, with respect to the treatment you wished us to 
receive. 

" At the time we were forced from our families we were 
preparing a remonstrance to you ; from a calm consideration 
whereof we expected a just and honourable result. We had 
therein stated, and we now repeat it, that having the authority 
of your recommendation to the Council to give us a hearing, 
we expected an opportunity of defending ourselves against the 
general charge you were pleased to exhibit against us of 
1 having by our general conduct and conversation evidenced a 
disposition inimical to the cause of America ;' we have no 
doubt we should have been able to remove ' every suspicion 
entertained against us,' had the right of citizens been allowed 
us ; but we were refused a hearing without any other reason 
than a re-assertion of their unjust suspicions : a mode of pro- 
ceeding which would criminate all innocent men ! 

" It will be needless to go through the many arguments we 
have already used to the Council and yourselves. It is suffi- 
cient to remind you that we are reduced to our present dan- 
gerous situation by your means ; and as the Council have no 



166 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

pretence of jurisdiction in this place, on the principles of jus- 
tice and humanity, you ought to extricate us from it. 

" We therefore, in the name of our fellow-citizens, of our 
families, of ourselves, and of every obligation by which man- 
kind are bound to each other, call upon you to remove those 
difficulties of which you have been the primary cause, to re- 
instate us in that situation we were in when by your concur- 
rence, and by the concurrence of your Committee for War, 
we were removed from the country in which our supposed 
offences, if any, must have been committed, and where alone 
they are cognizable ; and to do us that justice which the Presi- 
dent and Council, who began the attack upon us, could not be 
influenced to by their regard to the rights of mankind, or your 
recom mendation. 

'■ If you entertain those opinions in reality you have so 
often uttered in your publications in favour of liberty, so 
far from being offended at the freedom we use in addressing 
you in its favour, our cause will derive credit from the firm- 
ness with which we have thought proper to assert it. On 
the contrary, if you are determined to support the Council in 
the unjust and illegal steps they have taken to carry your first 
recommendation into execution, by continuing us in a country 
so dangerous to our personal safety, we shall commit ourselves 
to the protection of an all-wise overruling Power, in whose 
sight we trust we shall stand in this matter acquitted, and who, 
if any of us should lose our lives, will require our blood at 
your hands. 

Israel Pemberton, Thomas Gilpin, 

John Pemberton, Charles Jervis, 

James Pemberton, Charles Eddy, 

Samuel Pleasants, William Drewet Smith, 

Thomas Pike, John Hunt, 

Owen Jones, Jr., Edward Pennington, 

Thomas Affleck, Thomas Wharton, 

Thomas Fisher, Henry Drinker, 

Samuel R. Fisher, Elijah Brown, 

Miers Fisher, William Smith, (broker.)" 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 167 

2d day of 10th month. — The committee reported an essay 
of an address to the Governor and Council of Virginia, which 
was signed ; and a letter was written, signed by Thomas 
Wharton and Samuel Pleasants, to introduce the address to the 
Governor, ready to be forwarded. It is as follows : 



" TO THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA. 

" The address and memorial of the subscribers, citizens of 
Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, now confined at Winchester, in 
Virginia, respectfully sheweth : 

" That we were taken from our families and brought to this 
place, by order of the President and Council of Pennsylvania, 
in a manner not heretofore known in any free country, without 
being heard in our defence ! 

" Upon our arrival here, Daniel Levan, who commanded the 
escort conducting us from Reading, delivered to the lieutenant 
of this county, sundry papers from the President and Council 
of Pennsylvania, and the Continental Board of War, contain- 
ing directions concerning our confinement ; copies of the most 
material of which we herewith present to you. 

" Before our departure from Philadelphia, we applied to the 
Council among other things, to know to whose custody we 
were to be committed when here, and what directions were to 
be given concerning us ; and were informed that the Governor 
of Virginia would have the charge of, and directions con- 
cerning us. 

" We therefore apprehended it to be our duty to ourselves, 
and to the country in which we are appointed to reside, to 
state to you the situation we are in, and to claim that protec- 
tion w T hich the rights of hospitality, and the common right of 
mankind entitle us to, in a country where we are strangers. 

■« Our case is briefly this. We were apprehended by virtue 
of a general warrant, signed by the Vice-President in Council, 
and confined some days. Some of our houses were entered and 



168 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

our desks and other repositories broken, and our papers searched 
in our absence to furnish evidence against us. 

* We applied to the Council by remonstrance, to know the 
charge or suspicions against us, and demanded our right to be 
heard ; instead of granting this, they ordered us to be sent to 
Staunton, in Augusta County, Virginia, unheard. 

" We applied to Congress, (whom they said had recommended 
the measures,) for their interference in our behalf. They re- 
commended to Council to give us a hearing. 

" We remonstrated again to Council, repeating our demand 
of a hearing, before we should be condemned to banishment. 

" To evade this demand, they tendered us, as the condition 
of our enlargement, tests, which they were not authorized by 
the laws of Pennsylvania to offer us ! 

" We again remonstrated to them and insisted on our right 
to be heard ! 

" Disregarding our demands and alike unable to support any 
accusation against us, they served us with a copy of a peremp- 
tory resolve to send us to Virginia ! 

" Against this extraordinary proceeding we made a solemn 
protest, which was presented to them. 

" We sent to the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, who resides 
at a considerable distance from Philadelphia, for writs of habeas 
corpus ad subjiciendum, which being our indisputable right, he 
readily allowed; but before they could be served we were 
hurried from our families, at a critical time of danger, and 
carried to Reading, in the County of Berks, in Pennsylvania. 
At that place the writs of habeas corpus were served on our 
keepers, who absolutely refused to obey them, and sent us from 
stage to stage, to this place ! 

" After we had left Philadelphia, application was made, 
without our knowledge, to change the place of our destination 
from Staunton, Virginia ; which, from the warrant for removal, 
dated 16th day of last month, we find was accordingly directed. 

" Notwithstanding the many expressions contained in the 
several papers sent with us, requiring attention to be paid to 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 169 

our comfortable accommodations and humane treatment, we 
have abundant reason to believe that endeavours have been used 
to excite prejudices against us in the minds of the people, as 
well in the counties through which we were to pass, as in those 
fixed on for our residence, not only by sending forward publica- 
tions in handbills and newspapers, containing malicious forgeries 
and falsehoods, but by the verbal misrepresentations of some of 
our conductors, while the papers published in vindication of 
our characters, with printers' names to the title and our own 
subscribed, have been attempted to be suppressed, under colour 
of preventing us from disseminating ' sedition and discord.' 

" It is not to be wondered at that such means should produce 
the effects we have experienced since our arrival here, for 
although the Lieutenant of this county has behaved to us with 
humanity and politeness, yet such have been the prejudices and 
jealousies entertained of us by the people, that it has scarcely 
been in his power to restrain them from removing us forcibly 
out of the country. By his address and good management, how- 
ever, the minds of the people have been in some degree pacified, 
and we understand it is now concluded we shall remain here, 
in close confinement, in a private house, with guards at the 
doors, until further orders can be obtained respecting us from 
Congress and the executive power of Virginia. 

" We apprehend that common justice requires that every 
man who is accused should be heard, and, although confine- 
ment is in some cases necessary for a time, until such hearing 
can be had, yet we know not of any instance, in the history of 
our own or any free country, of even the most atrocious 
offenders being sent into banishment before conviction, or of 
being otherwise confined by them, but merely to secure their 
appearance. With what propriety the President and Council 
have acted in thus punishing us, by separating us from our 
tenderest connexions, in this time of increasing distress and 
calamity, when our presence and assistance were essentially 
necessary, we leave to their own consciences in the cool hour 



170 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

of reflection, to inform them. From you, though for the most 
part strangers, we look for more justice and humanity. 

" We therefore earnestly request you will take our suffering 
case into your consideration, and as we are brought here against 
our will, without the authority of any public body, or persons 
having a right to interfere in the internal police of this govern- 
ment, that you will not add to our oppressions by permitting 
us to be removed to any place more distant from our distressed 
families ; that you will use such measures as you shall think 
most proper to secure us a hearing before some tribunal which 
has the power to discharge us, if no cause of confinement 
should appear against us; that in the mean time you would 
direct our imprisonment to be made more easy than the limits 
of a house: our well-known principles and conduct heretofore, 
as well as during our present sufferings, have evidently shown 
this to be an unnecessary restraint; that you would give direc- 
tions for our protection from the misguided zeal of those whose 
passions have been raised by insinuations unjust in themselves, 
and uncredited by the authors of them ; and that you will pro- 
vide for our comfortable subsistence during our residence here, 
according to the assurances we received in Philadelphia, and 
the tenor of the papers accompanying us. Upon the whole, 
we do solemnly declare that we are altogether innocent of 
giving any occasion for those malicious insinuations which 
have been propagated against us, and held out as the cause of 
our persecution. And in order that you may be better able to 
judge concerning us, we beg your serious perusal of a narrative 
of our case herewith sent, which contains the substance of what 
passed during our confinement in Philadelphia, between the 
Congress, the Council, and ourselves. 

" We had prepared another paper in vindication of our cha- 
racters, and to manifest the falsehood of divers publications 
against us, but had not time to complete it before our removal. 

" The firm manner in which we have demanded our rights, 
and the reluctance we have shown in parting with our liberty, 
will, we hope, be forcible evidence in our favour, and suspend 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 171 

the opinions of all candid persons until the charge founded on 
our ' general conduct and conversation' is properly inquired 
into. 

" May true wisdom guide you in your deliberations in this 
and on every other occasion. 

" We are your real friends, 

Elijah Brown, Thomas Pike, 

Owen Jones, jun., Thomas Affleck, 
William Smith, (broker,) William Drewet Smith, 

Samuel R. Fisher, Thomas Wharton, 

Miers Fisher, Edward Pennington, 

Charles Eddy. Israel Pemberton, 

Thomas Fisher, John Hunt, 

Thomas Gilpin, James Pemberton, 

Charles Jervis, John Pemberton, 

Samuel Pleasants, Henry Drinker." 

" Winchester, 1st day of 10th month, 1777." 

The foregoing address was read to John Smith, who said he 
had no objection to it, and would forward it with his letter, 
which he promised to show us before it was sent. 

3d day of 10th month. — The light wagons have been dis- 
charged by Samuel Levari, without being paid or leaving any 
money with them to defray their expenses going home. He 
has gone away with his guard. 

A letter was written by Israel Pemberton and others to our 
friends Robert Pleasants and Edward Stabler, to enclose a copy 
of our address to John Smith ; and he gave us permission to read 
his letter respecting us, to the Governor of Virginia, which 
was very suitably expressed in regard to us, and our perilous 
situation, and the danger we are and may be in. 

Thomas Gilpin w 7 rote to his brother George Gilpin, Colonel 
of the Fairfax militia, now near Philadelphia, and delivered the 
letter to Isaac Zane. 



172 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

The Rev. John Hogg, of the Presbyterian Church, came to 
our house, but did not come in : he has great influence with 
the people, and they treat him with great respect. Joseph 
Keith, Clerk of the County, came to see us : he is an affable, 
pleasant man. 

Since our confinement, our guards state they are dissatisfied 
with their employment and our situation, most of them being 
pressed into this service out of the country, for various dis- 
tances of twenty miles around, and have been taken from their 
families when their labour was essentially necessary to their 
farms and seeding. This day, Isaac England, son of Samuel 
England, of Nottingham, a member of our Society, was com- 
pelled to leave his employment, about five miles off, and placed 
as a guard over us, at one of the doors, though he steadily re- 
fused to touch the musket, and said, in the hearing of the other 
guards, we might go where we would, he would not detain us. 
Yet they made him take his turn as a guard to us yesterday 
and to-day. 

Esquire Rutherford came to see us. He is one of the Assem- 
bly of Virginia. He lives about twenty miles from here, and 
also Alexander White, a lawyer. We had some conversation 
with them, and they seem very kindly disposed to us. Many 
prisoners, chained two together, are brought from Pittsburg. 

5th day of 10th month, 1777. — The first day of the week. 
At 10 o'clock, we had a very solid meeting for religious wor- 
ship in the morning. John Hunt preached largely and John 
Pemberton appeared in prayer. Philip Bush, his wife, and 
several of our guards attended. 

We had another meeting at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when 
Lieutenant John Smith sat with us also ; the Widow Jollop's 
son, the Widow Hollingsworth's son and daughter, and four or 
five other Friends were permitted to sit with us ; our landlord 
and his wife, and many of the guards came to the window. 

This evening, a Baltimore paper was brought us, giving an 
account of a great advantage the Americans have gained over 
General Burgoyne. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 173 

6th day of 10th month. — Several of us walked out, liberty 
being given, but to be attended by a guard, the captain of which, 
John Wolfe, communicated to us written orders for his govern- 
ment, of which he gave us liberty to take a copy, as follows : 

" The commanding officer of the guard will please to observe 
that no person be allowed to converse with the prisoners at Mr. 
Bush's, without Mr. Bush's approbation. Should the prisoners 
be inclined to walk, one sentinel may attend them as far as the 
spring, observing the above directions, that they do not con- 
verse with any others than themselves. 

"John Smith." 

From the time of our first coming till now, we have only 
been allowed to walk in Philip Bush's garden. This evening, 
Thomas Wharton, Thomas Gilpin, and five others, took a walk 
around of about two miles with a guard. 

10th. — Several of our company walked out to-day with some 
of our guards unarmed. Samuel Pleasants called on John 
Harvie, Esq., whom they saw yesterday. 

In the course of conversation, John Harvie said that John 
Smith told him that the riot which took place the evening of 
our coming here was fomented with a design to prevent us 
from going out to have any communication with our friends, 
because we were persons of so much influence at home, in our 
own Society, that being separated at Winchester from the 
young men, they would be more likely to unite in their measures 
and join the army. 

11th day of 10th month. — This morning, Edward Pennington 
and Henry Drinker, who had been appointed, waited on John 
Harvie, Esq., by whom they were received with much openness 
and friendly attention. 

Upon the whole he assured us of his good opinion of our 
Society, as far as his knowledge of it extended, and that he was 
convinced of the injustice of denying us a hearing. 

Our old guards went away, and took leave of us in a very 



174 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

kind feeling and disposition. One said he would not begrudge 
ten pounds out of his own pocket to have us set at liberty. 
They all agreed there was no occasion for guarding us; that 
they believed we had been wronged. 

12th day of 10th month, first day of the week. — We have 
had no guard since yesterday. This being the first day of the 
week, a meeting was held this morning at 10 o'clock. It w 7 as 
attended, in addition to our own company, by most of the 
family of our landlord, eight who were appointed as our new 
guard, and several strangers. They sat most part of the meet- 
ing, four of them all the time. It was stated that worship was 
frequently performed in awful silence. They seemed to behave 
with great quietude and consideration. After the meeting was 
over, some of them informed Colonel Kennedy they would go 
home ; he told them they would be fined. One said he was 
able to pay it, and went away. 

In the afternoon our meeting was attended at 4 o'clock. A 
number of Friends of the neighbourhood, and some persons 
not members of our Society, sat with us ; and the everlasting 
Gospel was preached to them. 

13th. — No guards over us to-day. As Lieutenant John 
Smith has left this place, and the charge of us devolves on 
David Kennedy, with whom we are but little acquainted, we 
thought it prudent to remain quietly together at our lodgings. 

About three hundred more prisoners were brought here under 
guard of 70 or 80 soldiers. They are all foreigners, English 
and Scotch. Peter Bush is allowed l'2d. per day, for boarding 
them. 

Doctor William Drewet Smith, got permission from Colonel 
David Kennedy to go any where in the town or country to see 
patients, and to take an assistant with him ; his permission was 
given in writing, and being called upon, he was usually engaged 
from time to time in professional service. 

15th day of 10th month, 4th day of the week. — At our 
morning meeting, the excellency of true fellowship, and living 
under the banner of love, which would preserve us in near 
union and Christian fellowship, was seasonably and feelingly 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 175 

spoken to ; and as some of our friends had been preserved 
through the perils of a long journey, to return in peace and 
safety to their families, it was adverted to as worthy all our 
grateful acknowledgments to the Father of Mercies. 

An application was made by one of our company to Colonel 
David Kennedy, for the privilege of walking a few miles 
round the town, and we had it principally in view to find 
suitable places to keep our horses, as it would be more expen- 
sive and not so well to keep them in town the remainder of 
the season ; when it appeared a considerable change had taken 
place with him in our favour, without our being able to dis- 
cover the cause. He, without hesitation, not only gave the 
leave, but after observing we were a people who would make 
no promises, and that he had no power to regulate us, desired 
us to regulate ourselves, and informed us that we might ride 
any where within six miles of Winchester, and as he did not 
expect we would enter into any engagements, he informed us 
that w T e must take the consequences if we exceeded that 
distance. 

Great part of our journal was read over yesterday evening 
and this evening. Some remarks being made upon it, Henry 
Drinker, Thomas Fisher, Edward Pennington, James Pember- 
ton, Thomas Wharton, and Miers Fisher, are desired to revise 
and transcribe it, and to make such alterations and additions 
thereto as they shall think necessary. 

17th. — Colonel Francis Peyton, of Loudon, who had called 
to see us at Reading, came here on a visit to us, accompanied 
by our friend John Hough. They dined and spent most of 
the afternoon and evening with us, having come many miles 
out of the way, which we take as a mark of their regard and 
friendly disposition towards us. 

18th. — Andrew M'Coy, from Crooked Run, paid us a visit 
yesterday, and Mahlon Janney and his wife, with Joseph 
Janney and his sister, (the wife of William Baker,) came over 
the mountain, about forty miles, from Loudon County, on a 
visit to us, and stayed most part of the day. 

Colonel Francis Peyton and John Hough took leave of us 



176 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

about eleven o'clock : the former going to Lancaster, we wrote 
letters to our families. 

19th day of 10th month, 1777. — Being the first day of the 
week, our meeting for worship was held at Philip Bush's, and 
was attended also by our landlord, his wife, and most of the 
children, and some few of our neighbouring Friends, Mahlon 
Janney and those who visited us yesterday, and several not of 
our religious Society, making up seventy or eighty persons, who 
attended both morning and afternoon. 

This morning, Colonel John Augustus Washington, brother 
of General Washington, came to our lodgings, and we had 
some friendly conversation with him. He read us a letter from 
Lieutenant Richard Henry Lee to him, giving an account of 
the various successes of the American army, the capture of 
General Burgoyne, and that General Howe was hemmed in, 
and would have to evacuate Philadelphia; that he is invested 
there all around. 

This day Colonel David Kennedy produced us a letter, of 
which he gave us liberty to take a copy, as follows : 

"War Office, October 16th, 1777. 
" Sir, 

" The Board being much engaged have not leisure to take 
into consideration the whole of your letter on the subject of 
the Philadelphia prisoners. I am, however, directed to inform 
you that the Board are thankful for the attention you have 
heretofore paid to the business, and have appointed Joseph 
Holmes, Esq., Deputy Commissary General of Prisoners, in 
the Western District of Virginia, to whom you will please 
deliver over the prisoners you have in charge, as he has re- 
ceived instructions concerning them, and no doubt will dispose 
of them in such a manner as will be proper with regard to 
them, and conducive to the satisfaction of the people of the 
country. " I have the honour to be, 

" Your very obedient servant, 

" Richard Peters, 

" Secretary." 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 177 

20th of 10th month. — Joseph Holmes and Isaac Zane, Jr., 
who had lately returned from Yorktown (the present location 
of Congress), came to see us ; the former produced the instruc- 
tions he had received there concerning us, which appears to be 
all the notice Congress mean to take of our last remonstrance. 



" War Office, October 16th, 1777. 
" Sir, 

" As you have requested from the Board of War some 
directions relative to the prisoners sent from Pennsylvania, as 
persons disaffected to the American cause, I am directed to in- 
form you that the mode of treatment of them is to be regulated 
by their behaviour respectively. 

" They are to be treated with every indulgence consistent 
with the safety of their persons and the good of our cause, so 
as to avoid on the one hand unnecessary rigour, and on the 
other lo prevent them from spreading disaffection, and injuring 
the interests of our country. You will dispose of them in a 
manner suitable to their respective characters and stations, and 
to suffer them to be supplied with every necessary they may 
want, at their own expense. 

" I am your very obedient servant, 

" Richard Peters* 

«' Secretary. 9 '' 

"To 

Joseph Holmes, Esq., Deputy Commissary General of Pri- 
soners in the Western District of Virginia." 

21st of 10th month. — The messenger who went to Williams- 
burg with our address to the Governor and Council of Vir- 
ginia, returned this day and delivered us a letter from Robert 
Pleasants and Edward Stabler, informing us they had presented 
it, and enclosing a copy of the minutes of Council thereupon, 
which is as follows, viz. : 

12 



178 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



"IN COUNCIL. 

"October 15th, 1777. 
" Virginia, [l. s.] 

" His Excellency having communicated to the Board sundry 
letters and other papers, relative to the Quakers and others 
who have been apprehended in Pennsylvania, by order of the 
Executive Council of that State, as enemies of the independence 
of America, as it had appeared therefrom that in the present 
time of danger more immediately threatening that State, 
it was judged necessary to send them to the town of Win- 
chester, in the county of Frederick, in Virginia, and the 
[lieutenant of that county informing the Governor that he wanted 
"his Excellency's sanction for confining them as prisoners of 
war, and also that the people of that place were greatly in- 
censed against the said prisoners, and had demanded their re- 
moval, and that it was with difficulty he had restrained them 
from doing violence to their persons : the Board advised his 
Excellency to write to said county lieutenant, commending his 
past conduct, and directing him to continue protection, and to 
exert himself to afford humane treatment to the said prisoners, 
.whom he is to consider as under his care until orders may be 
given hereafter for their removal; until which time he is to 
permit them to walk in the daytime, in any part of the town, 
for the benefit of their health. 

"The Board further advised the county lieutenant to let the 
people of *the country know, that any violence which may be 
offered the prisoners, will be considered highly derogatory and 
dishonourable to the government. And in the mean time they 
recommend to his Excellency to write to the Executive Council 
■ of Pennsylvania, informing them of the situation of their 
prisoners at Winchester, and that his Excellency would give 
directions for the removal of them to such other place within 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 179 

this State, as they would signify to him to have their appro- 
bation. 

" Archibald Blair, 

"Clerk." 

" Williamsburg, October 15th, 1777. 
" Sir, 

" The foregoing advice of the Council I accept, and have to 

desire you that you will govern yourself according to the tenor 

of it, and consider it containing my orders. 

" I am, sir, your humble servant, 

" P. Henry." 

" To the 

County lieutenant of the county in which Winchester is 
situate." 

Which being taken into consideration, Israel Pemberton and 
Miers Fisher desired to confer with David Kennedy upon the 
subject, who reported that he seemed very willing to continue 
to us a circuit of six miles round the town, although he thought 
the minutes of Council would scarcely warrant him in so 
doing. 

We have found that most of the prejudices excited in these 
parts against our Society, have arisen from publications made 
at Philadelphia, and circulated here, containing falsehoods, 
forgeries, and misrepresentations, and as the essay prepared at 
Philadelphia, before we left there, in answer to them, was not 
published, it was thought necessary to prepare another, and 
Israel Pemberton, Edward Pennington, Thomas Wharton, 
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, and Miers Fisher, were 
appointed a committee for the purpose. 

23d day. — Our friend John Hunt went with Samuel R. 
Fisher, to the week-day meeting at Hopewell, and returned in 
the afternoon. 

About seven o'clock this evening, our friend John Hunt ex- 
pressed a desire that we might be collected to sit together, 



180 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



which being complied with, after a short pause he began to 
speak. He mentioned a close exercise which had attended his 
mind for some hours, which gratitude to Heaven and a duty to 
ourselves would not permit him to conceal. 

He reminded us of the many interpositions of Divine Pro- 
vidence for our preservation and comfort since our separation 
from our own dear connexions. He then recommended us to 
continue watchful, that we might be strengthened to undergo 
whatever sufferings might be permitted to come upon us ; and 
to keep as much as possible from repeating, or even hearing 
rumours, which would be frequent, and tend only to weaken us. 

24th of 10th month. — This morning a report prevailed that 
General Burgoyne and all his army were taken, and that 5850 
men, prisoners, were sent into Connecticut — that General 
Howe was about to evacuate Philadelphia. These accounts, 
we were told, came by express last night. John Magill, Esq., 
had a letter from Philadelphia, containing the detail, which he 
read to Miers Fisher, stating also that General Howe's letter to 
Lord Howe, stating his situation to be very critical, had been 
intercepted. The intelligence made a great stir in the town. 
A company of the inhabitants paraded the streets with drum 
and fife, and fired a feu-de-joie. A bonfire of many cords of 
wood was made, and in the evening the houses were mostly 
illuminated. Our friend, Meschach Sexton, who declined, had 
some small damage done to his house, by way of insult; but 
there was not much damage done to the town. 

25th. — Some of our company discovered in a conversation 
with our landlord, Philip Bush, that he means to charge each 
of us ten shillings a day, silver money, for our board, which is 
twelve shillings and sixpence a day, Pennsylvania currency ; 
and we find our own beds, drink, and washing. A committee 
was appointed to confer with him thereon, and also to ask 
David Kennedy to give us permission to board among our 
friends around the town. Philip Bush said he would agree to 
make a more exact calculation, and see us again the ensuing 
week. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 181 

26th. — Being the first day of the week ; our meeting was 
attended, morning and afternoon, by Philip Bush and his family, 
and several Friends from the country. John Pemberton and 
John Hunt were largely engaged in exhortation and prayer. 

Among the Friends that were collected with us this after- 
noon, was Thomas M'Clunn, who left General Washington's 
camp, about 20 miles from Philadelphia, on the 18th inst., on 
or near the Skippack Road. 

This Friend, with thirteen others, members of our Society, 
residing in this county, had been drafted under the militia law 
of the present government, and taken forcibly from their friends 
and families ; and though they bore a steady testimony against 
all warlike measures, and refused to partake of the provision 
allotted to themselves and others, and to handle any of the 
muskets, to which they were urged, yet they were forced to 
move on in military order, from place to place, for some dis- 
tance, when about half their number, from indisposition of 
body, were allowed to return home, though others were com- 
pelled to march in company with the militia to the camp, 
during which time several of them had muskets tied to their 
bodies, and were forced to stand at certain places for many 
hours together. 

At the camp a discharge was obtained for them, by order of 
General Washington, soon after they reached it, with liberty 
to return home, in which he thinks Clement Biddle was 
assisting. 

Winchester, 2d day of 11th month. — First day of the week. 
Our religions meetings began at 10 o'clock in the morning, and 
at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and were very satisfactory. 
Several exhortations were delivered ; in the forenoon by John 
Pemberton, and in the afternoon by Daniel Brown and John 
Hunt. Those were the largest meetings we have had, being 
attended by sixty or seventy persons, mostly members of our 
Society. Friends were enabled to preach the doctrine of sal- 
vation with feeling energy. 

About the close of the meeting, Samuel England, from Not- 



182 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

tingham, arrived. He brought us letters from our friends 
George Churchman and T. Lancaster, informing us of the 
sympathy of our friends, and of our families being well, on the 
16th ultimo. He showed us a letter from George Churchman, 
giving an account of a visit paid General Howe, and also to 
General Washington, by some Friends, in order to remove 
prejudices against our Society, which it is hoped had some 
good effect. 

We have experienced great inconvenience at being very 
much crowded at our landlord's, as well as also incommoding 
his family. This, and the heavy charge of board, have induced 
several of us to seek for board at our friends' families in the 
country round. The subject came to be considered this even- 
ing, and the inconvenience to arise from our separation. It 
was concluded to keep up our meetings on first and fourth 
days, as usual; to meet as occasion otherwise required, and to 
leave those at liberty to remove to other lodgings. Our situa- 
tion at Philip Bush's had become very expensive and severe 
upon us. 

The Board of War has declared that ice must find ourselves. 
They only allow us to have what ice want at our own expense ; 
and on making an attempt to settle with Philip Bush, he would 
not take less than seventy-five shillings, hard money, Pennsyl- 
vania, per week, and we find three servants to help, our own 
bedding and washing, tea, sugar, and all our own drink of 
every sort except water. 

9th day, and first day of the week. — There are thirteen of 
us who continued to board at Philip Bush's, and we were joined 
there, at our morning meeting, by Thomas Wharton, Owen 
Jones, Charles Eddy, Thomas Affleck, and Elijah Brown, and 
most of our landlord's family : a few strangers attended. 

Our company being now separated, and our time being em- 
ployed in writing, reading, and visiting our friends in the neigh- 
bourhood, without any great variety, we think it unnecessary 
to remark the ordinary occurrences of every day. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 183 

We shall, therefore, while that continues to be the case, con- 
fine our journal to things of a general nature. 

Uth day of I lth month. — Thomas Bails and William Robin- 
son, from New Garden, in North Carolina, visited us. They 
were on their way to perform a religious visit to the Indians, 
for which they appeared to be under proper qualifications and 
resignation of mind ; leaving all, and at the risk of their lives 
engaging in this service from a sense of duty and universal 
love to mankind, engaged our sympathy and desire that they 
should be preserved in this time of difficulty and danger in the 
arduous undertaking. 

Thomas Bails expects to spend the greater part of his days 
among the Indians; and having visited them before, he will be 
useful among them. 

12th to 23d of 11th month. 

On the 14th, Israel Pemberton, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas 
Fisher, and Miers Fisher, dined with Alexander White, Esq., 
by invitation, at his house about three miles from Winchester, 
and were kindly entertained. 

Colonel Francis Peyton, of Loudon County, visited us. 

Thomas Gilpin went to Major Holmes's at Newtown. 

Our afternoon meeting on first day, having greatly increased, 
our landlord mentioned that we might have the use of a suitable 
place, belonging to the Lutherans and Calvinists, to meet in. 
On considering it would be more convenient, and that the in- 
habitants of the town might come there with greater freedom 
than to a private house, we accepted it, and an afternoon meet- 
ing was held there this day, for the first time, to which many 
came of divers denominations. 

It was a satisfactory time. Our friend John Hunt, in a clear 
and edifying manner, preached the Gospel of peace and salva- 
tion. 

25th of 11th month and 1st of the week. — Sixteen of out- 
number attended our morning meeting, also several of our 



184 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

landlord's family, and Daniel M'Pherson, jun. and John 
M'Pherson. The afternoon meeting was held in the same 
house that it was on first day last, and was very near full. 
Our friends John Hunt and John Pemberton had very accepta- 
ble service in both. 

25th of 11th month. — About seven o'clock this evening, our 
friends John Parrish and John James, from Philadelphia, paid 
us a visit, and gave us an account of the welfare of our families 
and of friends there, to our great satisfaction. 

27th. — Some part of our company attended the preparatory 
meeting at Hopewell. In the evening there was a remarkably 
brilliant aurora borealis. It continued very luminous a conside- 
rable time ; it extended for about 65 degrees along the horizon 
at the northeast, and about 45 degrees high, of a rich crimson 
colour ; the air clear ; the stars shone through it ; after which 
it parted: the largest body went more to the north, the rest 
east. 

28th. — Our company assembled agreeably to appointment to 
take into consideration our singular situation for near three 
months past. That we have been deprived of our liberties and 
separated from our friends and families, without learning that 
our oppressors gave any attention to our sufferings, or that 
they intend to restore us to our just rights. 

It w T as left under the particular care of such as are inclined 
to revive a representation of our grievances, to propose to us 
what measures the occasion might seem to require. 

30th. — Snow had fallen the 28th and 29th to become fifteen 
inches deep. Thomas Gilpin and Elijah Brown, from the 
country, and Thomas Pleasants and Ezekiel Edwards, our 
landlady and her children, attended our morning meeting, 
which was silent till near the end, when our friend John Pem- 
berton spoke very acceptably. Our afternoon meeting was 
attended by the above mentioned, and also by our friends John 
Parrish, John James, and a number of Friends from the neigh- 
bourhood, and some from a distance, on their w T ay to the 
monthly meeting at Hopewell. The meeting consisted of about 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 185 

sixty persons, and on account of the deep snow was held at our 
lodgings. 

Winchester, 2d day of 12th month, 1777. — Our friends John 
James and John Parrish attended our meeting to-day. This 
day Thomas Gilpin, who went to live at Isaac Brown's, re- 
turned to us at Philip Bush's. 

8th. — Second day of the week. The essay of " Observations 
on the charges made against us in the several resolves of Con- 
gress," was corrected, agreed to, and a fair copy ordered to be 
made. It was concluded to send it to " The Meeting for 
Suffering at Philadelphia," and if approved by them, they are 
left at liberty to publish it. Israel Pemberton and Henry 
Drinker are to prepare a letter to accompany it. 

William Drewet Smith soon afterwards rode out to take the 
air, as we expected, but not returning as usual, 'we apprehend 
he has gone to Philadelphia. 

12th. — Major Joseph Holmes, under w 7 hose care we have 
been for some time placed by the Board of War, dined with 
us. When he was informed of Dr. William D. Smith having 
left us, and our apprehensions that he had gone to Philadelphia, 
he proposed to send an express to Congress about it, but he de- 
ferred it till second day next. 

While we were considering " The Memorial to Congress" 
which we entered upon, after our meeting for worship, we 
were informed that Joseph Holmes, who attended, had some 
fresh instructions to communicate concerning us, which are in 
a further order from the Board of War, to wit: 

" The Board of War having had sundry intercepted letters 
laid before them from several of the Quakers, prisoners stationed 
at Winchester, in the State of Virginia, by which it appears 
they have kept up a correspondence with several others of that 
Society, in this and the neighbouring States, without previously 
showing their letters to the American Commissary of prisoners, 
or to any other proper officer at that place ; in the course of 
which correspondence it also appears that a certain Owen 



186 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Jones, jun., one of the said prisoners, is carrying on with sun- 
dry persons in the town of Lancaster, a traffic highly injurious 
to the credit of the Continental currency, by exchanging gold 
at a most extravagant premium for paper money. And 
whereas, it is represented to this Board, that since the residence 
of the above-mentioned prisoners at Winchester, the confidence 
of the inhabitants in that quarter in the currency of these States 
has been greatly diminished, especially among the persons of 
the same Society with themselves. 

" Ordered, That Owen Jones, jun., be forthwith removed 
under guard to Staunton, in the county of Augusta, there to be 
closely confined in jail, and debarred the use of pen, ink, and 
paper, unless for such purposes and for such occasions as the 
Lieutenant of the said county, or some person appointed by 
him for that purpose, shall deem expedient. 

" That the remainder of the prisoners sent from the State of 
Pennsylvania, be removed under the same guard to Staunton, 
and delivered to the county Lieutenant of Augusta, who is 
hereby directed to require of them a parole or affirmation, that 
they will not, directly or indirectly, do or say any thing tending 
to the prejudice of these States, agreeably to the form herewith 
transmitted ; and in case of refusal, the said county Lieutenant 
is hereby requested to confine the said persons in some secure 
building, under proper guards, and subject to the same restric- 
tions with Owen Jones, jun., before mentioned. 

" That copies of these orders, together with the intercepted 
letters from Owen Jones, jun., be transmitted to Mr. Joseph 
Holmes, and to the county Lieutenant of Augusta ; who are 
desired to carry the above measures into immediate execution. 

" Extract from the minutes, and signed 

" By order of the Board of War. 

" Joseph Nouelse, 

" Deputy Secretary." 

Joseph Nourse also produced a copy of a letter from Owen 
Jones, Jr., and the following deposition taken at Yorktown. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 1 87 



The name of the person was erased, but the substance was — 
" -, of Yorktown, in the State of Pennsylvania, 



being duly examined, and sworn on the Holy Evangelists of 
Almighty God, deposeth and sayeth, That being last week at 
Winchester, in the State of Virginia, he heard several of the 
inhabitants complain heavily, that since the Tories of the 
Quaker Society who were sent up from Philadelphia, had been 
enlarged, and permitted to reside at the Quaker houses in the 
vicinity of the town, the inhabitants of that Society, who are 
numerous in that part of the country, have very generally re- 
fused to take Continental money." 

Some of our company attempting to walk out, found guards 
were placed at the doors without our being previously informed 
of it, and we are again made close prisoners. We soon after 
learned that Joseph Holmes, before he communicated these 
orders to us, had given directions to David Kennedy to provide 
wagons for our immediate removal. 

The injustice and cruelty of this order to remove us being 
laid before Joseph Holmes, he was informed of our being then 
met to conclude on a memorial to Congress, which we ex- 
pected to have sent by some one of our number: this he in- 
formed us he could by no means now agree to. Then we pro- 
posed to prepare one and he to go with it, which he declined ; 
but at length agreed that we might send a representation to 
Congress, and wait their further determination concerning us. 

Those of our company who lodge in the country had leave 
to go thither, having agreed to meet us again to-morrow 
morning. 

18th day. — Our company collected at eleven o'clock, when 
the subject of yesterday was resumed. Israel Pemberton, Ed- 
ward Pennington, Henry Drinker, and Miers Fisher, were 
appointed to prepare an essay of a memorial to " The Con- 
gress," and to the Council of Pennsylvania. 

Joseph Holmes, Alexander White, David Kennedy, and 
John Magill, being with us this morning, John Holmes was 



188 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

urged particularly by A. White and John Magill to go with 
our memorial. In this, as well as a consideration of our 
present circumstances, he showed a very friendly disposition. 
They dined with us, and it was proposed to Alexander White 
to go, (J. Holmes continuing to decline it,) to which he pro* 
mised to let us know in the morning. In the afternoon our 
guards were ordered away, and those of our company who 
live in the country permitted to go there. 

19th. — We received a note from Alexander White, Esq., in- 
forming us of his conclusion to undertake our business. 

Our kind friends, John Parrish and John James, who had 
from brotherly regard undertaken so long a journey to visit us, 
took an affectionate leave of us this afternoon, and set out for 
the Quarterly Meeting at Fairfax, Loudon County. 

Our company being all met, in the evening our memorial 
was read to Alexander W T hite, Esq., David Kennedy, and 
Philip Bush, who all expressed their approbation of it. The 
two first mentioned, that, if we were discharged, it would be 
expected we should give some assurance that we would not 
convey any intelligence, and urged our adding a paragraph 
thereon to the memorial, which we had proposed to do in our 
instruction to Alexander White. After they withdrew, taking 
it into consideration, we found ourselves easy to add an 
assurance, which was accordingly done. 

Two fair copies of the memorial being made and signed, 
are as follows : 

" TO THE CONGRESS, AND TO THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

"A memorial from the subscribers, inhabitants of the city 
of Philadelphia, who were sent from thence, and are now 
confined at Winchester, in Virginia, by order of the President 
and Council of Pennsylvania, in pursuance of a recommenda- 
tion of Congress, dated 28th day of August last. 

" Having borne with patience an imprisonment of upwards 
of three months, at a great distance from our families, and 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 189 

having a proper sense of the value of that liberty of which 
we have been unjustly deprived, we apprehend it our duty 
to ourselves, and to our endeared connexions from whom we 
have been thus separated, and who ,must have suffered from 
our absence in this time of great calamity, to make some 
further application for our relief; and as our banishment was 
the act of both your bodies, we think it most proper to address 
you jointly. 

" While we were preparing a memorial for this purpose, we 
were informed by Joseph Holmes, who has the care of the 
prisoners of war in this district, that he had received some 
directions from the Board of War, concerning us, which he 
soon after communicated. 

" We were much surprised at the substance of those direc- 
tions, and also that they should come from a Board which we 
apprehended had nothing to do with us ; as we were not found 
in arms, nor charged in any measures tending to war ; and of 
this opinion was Elias Boudinot, Esq., the Commissary-General 
for prisoners of war, who assured us at Reading on our way 
hither, that we could by no means whatever be considered as 
prisoners of war ; and that if we had been, he should have 
had the charge of us, and would have interested himself in 
providing for our accommodation and support. 

"Before we left Philadelphia, we applied to the Council by 
question in writing, through Lewis Nicola, town major, to know 
to whose custody we should be committed while here ; they re- 
turned us for answer by him — 

" That the Governor of Virginia would have the charge of 
us. In consequence of which, soon after our arrival here, we 
presented an address to the Governor and Council of Virginia, 
together with copies of the papers accompanying us, request- 
ing them to enlarge our bounds, and not permit us to be re- 
moved further from home ; that we might be speedily heard 
in our own defence, and in the mean time that we should be 
supported and maintained, according to the expectations given 
us before our banishment. 



190 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

"Whereupon, the Council advised the Governor, and he 
adopted the advice, to direct the lieutenant of this county to 
allow us the benefit of air and exercise, and to afford us pro- 
tection and humane treatment ; and in the mean time to write 
to the Council of Pennsylvania, informing them of the situa- 
tion of their 'prisoners at Winchester. Whether the Governor 
of Virginia has ever written on the subject or not, we have not 
yet been informed, but apprehend we are under his immediate 
direction in this place, and ought not to be removed further by 
the Board of War, or indeed by any other power, without his 
concurrence. 

" The reasons assigned by the Board of War on their order 
for our removal, are very inadequate to so great an aggrava- 
tion of our sufferings. They are comprehended under three 
heads. These we shall endeavour to answer so fully as to in- 
duce you to interfere with them to prevent their being carried 
into execution. 

" The charges against us are : 

" First. That we have held a correspondence with divers of 
our friends, without communicating our letters to a proper 
officer. 

" Second. That Owen Jones, Jr., one of our company, had 
exchanged gold at an extravagant premium, whereby the Con- 
tinental currency became much depreciated in these parts. 

" Third. That since our coming here, the confidence of the 
inhabitants, and especially those of our Society, in Continental 
money, was diminished. 

" To the first. Though we never were informed that it was 
necessary, our letters to our families and friends should be in- 
spected by any officer here ; we did offer them on our first 
arrival to the lieutenant of the county, who politely declined 
reading them, and expressing his confidence that we should not 
communicate any public intelligence, permitted us to send our 
letters without any application to him. And we have been 
careful not to give any cause of offence in what we have 
written, having confined our correspondence to our families 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 191 

and our friends, and the subjects in our letters to our private 
concerns ; many of them have gone through the public channels, 
where they have been or might be examined. 

" For an answer to the second. We refer to state of the case 
of Owen Jones, Jr., by him sent to James Duane, Esq., mem- 
ber of Congress, to be laid before you. 

" To the third. Requires particular delicacy in answering. 
But as it seems to carry an insinuation that we have been the 
cause of the diminution of the confidence of the people in the 
Continental currency, it is necessary we should say so much 
upon the subject as will vindicate ourselves. 

" Upon our arrival here, we found that currency depreciated, 
as it was in other places, to a very considerable degree ; or 
what is the same thing, all articles of life risen to enormous 
prices. The people of the neighbourhood, as well traders as 
farmers, unwilling to part with their merchandise or produce 
of any sort, but by way of barter for other necessaries they 
were in need of; and this prevailed so much among people of 
all denominations, that we could not procure our board in the 
town of Winchester, at a lesser rate than five times the former 
accustomed price, although we were provided with most if not 
all the foreign articles we used ; and as many of us had no 
other money to pay for what we wanted, it was our interest 
to make it go as far as we could ; nor have any of us ex- 
changed gold or silver with the inhabitants at any rate, except 
in one instance, of three half Johannes, spared to a goldsmith 
on his application, to work them up, or used any other means 
to lessen the value of the Continental currency, nor expended 
gold or silver in the purchase of any articles, but such as could 
not easily be had for any other money. If then, the confidence 
of the people in that money is diminished, it must be ascribed 
to other causes than to our residence here. 

" These hints will, we hope, be sufficient to show that the 
causes assigned for our removal, will not justify so rigorous a 
proceeding. 

" The removing of us an hundred miles further from home 



192 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

at the most inclement season of the year ; along a road ren- 
dered by the weather very difficult to be passed by carriages ; 
through a country thinly settled, where accommodation for so 
great a number of persons, several of whom are aged, and 
others very infirm of body, cannot be had at a place where we 
are utter strangers, and where we shall be at such a distance 
from our distressed families, that we shall seldom hear of their 
situation at a time when our care and attention to them is most 
wanted, are punishments which could only be inflicted for 
crimes of a deep dye. 

" But this is not all. An affirmation or oath is to be tendered 
to us when we arrive there, and upon our refusal, we are to 
be closely confined to a house, without the use of pen, ink, or 
paper ; contrary to the repeated assurances given us, that we 
were to be treated with humanity and politeness, agreeably to 
our characters and stations. 

" We have heretofore declared in the most positive terms 
our innocence of giving any cause for the suspicions entertained 
against us. We have never had any hearing of any kind, nor 
have been convicted of any offence. For these reasons we 
refused to sign the written promise offered to us at Philadelphia. 
The same reasons yet subsist ; we are as innocent now as then, 
and therefore cannot make ourselves voluntary prisoners, and 
thereby give colour to the proceedings against us. 

" During our continuance here, no provision has been made 
for our support ; nor does it appear that any is made for our 
journey to Staunton, or during our residence there, as we were 
given to understand by the Council should be done. And there 
are several among us who have no other dependence for the 
support of their families than their occupations, which they are 
by this means prevented from following. 

" We therefore entreat you will take our suffering case into 
consideration, and review the whole proceedings had against 
us, when we doubt not you will find that we have given no just 
cause for our severe treatment, and that you w 7 ill not only super- 
sede the orders given by the Board of War for our removal, 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 193 

but restore us to our liberty, that we may return to our families, 
whereby all occasion of future jealousy or suspicion against 
us will be removed, and you will experience that peace of 
mind which always accompanies the doing acts of justice to 
the oppressed. And in order to convince you that no incon- 
venience can thus arise to you from thus discharging us, we 
solemnly repeat the declarations we have heretofore made, 
that we have never held any correspondence verbally or other- 
wise, with the General of the British armies, or any others 
concerned in concerting or carrying on their military opera- 
tions ; and are free further to declare that we will not give 
them any information of the circumstances of this country, the 
disposition of the inhabitants, or any transactions respecting 
the contest between Great Britain and America, which may 
have come to our knowledge since our residence here. 

" Being debarred from making a personal application, we 
have prevailed upon Alexander White, Esq., a gentleman of 
character in this neighbourhood, to wait on both your bodies 
with this memorial, who being well acquainted with the senti- 
ments of ihe people, and with our conduct, will be able to 
satisfy you further upon any particulars you may think proper 
to inquire into. 

" We are your real friends, 

Thomas Gilpin, John Hunt, 

Miers Fisher, James Pemberton, 

Samuel Pleasants, John Pemberton, 

Owen Jones, jun., Thomas Wharton, 

Thomas Pike, Edward Pennington, 

Thomas Affleck, Henry Drinker, 

William Smith, (broker,) Charles Jervis, 

Elijah Brown, Thomas Fisher, 

Charles Eddy, Samuel R. Fisher. 

Israel Pemberton, 

"Winchester, 19th of 12th month, 1777." 

13 



194 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO ALEXANDER WHITE, ESQ., WITH A LIST 
OF PAPERS DELIVERED HIM. 

" Our situation has been from the beginning peculiarly hard, 
as the parties accusing us are the only persons to whom we 
have been permitted to apply for relief. The only power who 
could have interfered, the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, having 
been forbidden to proceed upon writs of habeas corpus, by a 
law made ex post facto. 

" If Congress are disposed to favour our request of a dis- 
charge, it is most probable they will refer thee to the Council, 
with whom all arguments should be used for a discharge, and 
among others, this : 

" That they offered to discharge us in Philadelphia, upon 
.our taking the test. The necessity of which being removed by 
our going there now, and having engaged not to give any in- 
telligence, all objections are removed. 

" If there appears no prospect of a discharge, nor of our 
having a hearing, we then ask thy best efforts to procure a 
supersedeas to the order for our removal to Staunton ; and to 
obtain this, it will be proper to urge, that the causes are not 
founded in truth and justice, and among other arguments, the 
following in regard to Owen Jones, Jr. 

" That his sending his gold to a place so distant to exchange 
for Continental money which was to be expended here, was by 
no means depreciating that currency ; but on the contrary, 
interested him in the support of its credit. 

" With respect to ourselves, the insinuation is false ; for we 
have never done one act to diminish the confidence of the 
people in it; their confidence was less in the Continental cur- 
rency than in gold, long before our arrival, as many instances 
within our own knowledge show, and the decrease of this con- 
fidence may be accounted for — 

" 1st. By the great quantities of it in circulation. 

" 2d. The increasing scarcity of gold and silver, which has 
been exported in large quantities for the purchase of foreign 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 195 

goods, and the scarcity of many articles of life, such as salt, 
spirits, woollen and linen cloths, which have risen to enormous 
prices, and the scarcity has had an effect upon every article of 
produce, and introduced a barter of one article for another. 

" 3d. The notorious practice of persons in the neighbourhood 
of the British army, who buy or procure great quantities of 
Continental currency at a low rate, and take it to a remote 
place to purchase gold and silver, all manner of produce, and 
even lands, to realize property, as they term it. 

" As this is an increasing thing, the imputation may be made 
as justly against us at Staunton as any where else they send us. 
That we are under the immediate protection of the Governor 
of Virginia, who has promised us protection, and who ought to 
be consulted as to the place we shall be located in his jurisdic- 
tion. That we are not prisoners of war, but persons who are 
deprived of our liberty on groundless suspicions, and ought not 
to be punished on suspicions, nor before we are convicted. 

" With respect to hardships, we represent, inter alia : 

" That the stock of necessaries we brought with us is nearly 
expended ; they have become absolutely necessary, especially 
in a limestone country, where the water has affected most 
of us. 

" That several of us are in want of linen and w T arm clothing, 
which cannot be had here at any price. 

" That the season of the year, the badness of the road, 
want of proper carriages, want of accommodation on the 
road, will endanger the lives of some of the aged and infirm 
among us. 

" That some of us are not in circumstances to bear such an 
expense, having no means to support their families in Philadel- 
phia, but their occupations ; and the money they brought with 
them in expectation of having their support, is expended, and 
they have no means of procuring a supply. 

" That our general conduct has been inoffensive, not having 
interfered in any political questions, nor used any means to in- 
fluence public measures. 



196 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

" Thou wilt also endeavour to procure an order for our ex- 

penses during our confinement here, and the more especially if 

we are to be continued in confinement, for some of us cannot 

otherwise support themselves. 

" These hints will perhaps assist thee soliciting this affair. 

But we do not desire to anticipate thy own judgment. And 

therefore conclude with our best wishes for thy success, and 

safe return. 

" Thy assured and obliged friend, 

" In behalf of my fellow-sufferers and myself, 

" Miers Fisher. 

" Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, 

20th December, 1777. 
" To Alexander White, Esquire." 

A. White being furnished with the papers, took leave of us 
this evening, and returned to his home, distant about two miles. 
He is to go on to Congress at Yorktown, in the morning. 

21st day of 12th month. — First day. Our morning meeting 
was attended by ten, and our afternoon meeting by twelve of 
our number ; none coming in from the country. 

This day George Gilpin of Alexandria arrived, on a visit 
to us. 

In the evening there was a fine aurora borealis. 

23d. — A letter was written to our friend Robert Pleasants. 

28th. — Nine of our number, and George Gilpin, attended 
our meeting. Our friend, John Pemberton, appeared both in 
the morning and afternoon ; in both very profitably. 

31st. — Our weekday meeting was attended by ten of our 
number, and George Gilpin and Joseph Lupton. The account 
of our being ordered to Staunton had reached our friends in 
the city, which must cause them great uneasiness. 

About 4 o'clock, afternoon, we received a letter from Alex- 
ander White, Esq., dated at Yorktown, the 26th inst., inform- 
ing us he had conversed with the Pennsylvania delegates in a 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 197 

body, and had delivered our memorial on the 24th. He had 
conversed with several members of Congress, and entertained 
some hopes of success. 



The preceding "Journal of Transactions, &c," was kept by 
the exiles at Winchester, Virginia ; it commenced at the time 
of their being arrested at Philadelphia, in September, 1777, 
and continued to 31st December, 1777. This copy is taken 
from a journal in the handwriting of Samuel R. Fisher, which 
was his own copy of it ; and there does not appear to have 
been any Journal of the company kept after that time. 

The succeeding part of this narrative is copied from the 
diary of James Pemberton, and thus completes " The Journal 
of the Friends in Exile in Virginia," it being from the termina- 
tion of the year 1777 to the 30th of April, 1778, on which 
day those members of the company which returned, reached 
Philadelphia. 

The diary of James Pemberton is in possession of his grand- 
son, James P. Parke. 



JOURNAL OF THE FRIENDS IN EXILE IN VIRGINIA, 

TAKEN FROM THE DIARY OF JAMES PEMBERTON. 
Commencing 1st month, 1778, and ending 30th of 4th month, 1778. 

Winchester, 1st day of 1st month, 1778. — Fifth day of the 
week. A moderate calm pleasant day for the season. In the 
afternoon, visited by Joseph Pemberton, Isaac and William 
Jackson, who called on their return from Hopewell. 



198 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

4th day. First day of the week. — Nine of our exiled com- 
pany, with Isaac and William Jackson, Rees Cadwallader, 
Sarah Brown, and Joseph Pemberton, William Matthew, John 
Hurst, Edward Jones, John James, Ruth Holland, Ruth Miller, 
and other friends, attended our morning and afternoon meet- 
ings ; we were comforted by a sense of ancient kindness. 

My brother, John Pemberton, gave a seasonable exhortation, 
which with a sense of the immediate attendings of Divine 
favour, gave us fresh occasion for thankfulness. 

7th. — At a meeting on the 4th day of the week, our friends 
from Pennsylvania expressed a desire to see all our banished 
company together ; and this day being appointed, and notice 
sent them, our meeting was generally attended, and George 
Gilpin and our landlady were present. 

At the close we had a solid conference, at which our friends 
were informed of our present situation ; of the order for our 
removal to Staunton, and our memorial to Staunton. 

Our friend Isaac Zane, seemed under a religious concern to 
visit Congress and the Council. Our Pennsylvania friends all 
dined with us, and concluded to remain a few days in the 
neighbourhood, as we have expected the return of Alexander 
White. 

11th. — First day of the week. Ten of our company attended 
our meeting ; also George Gilpin, Benjamin Hough, John James, 
Thomas Millhouse, and other Friends. We spent the evening 
together, conferring on our present circumstances. 

We received a letter from Alexander White, Esq., dated at 
Yorktown, on the 8th instant, informing us he had been at 
Lancaster, and presented our memorial to the President and 
Council of Pennsylvania, who soon came to a resolution to 
refer it to Congress, whose prisoners they considered us to be. 
That he could not obtain a copy of the resolve. But that the 
Secretary, Timothy Matlack, communicated to him the letter 
he had written to the delegates of Pennsylvania, intimating, 
but not expressly declaring, " That as the original arrest was 
thought by many not to have answered any good purpose, as 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 199 

things had turned out, and the detaining in confinement not ser- 
viceable to the public cause, they wished us to be released" in 
fact, that they wanted us to be set at liberty to get rid of us. He 
said he would urge Congress to come to some further determi- 
nation, and he hoped to get their decision in a short time, and 
then to return to us here. A consideration of our business had 
been postponed by other matters engaging their attention. 

Thus we have at length obtained from the Council a tacit 
acknowledgment of the injustice of our banishment, and a 
declaration that we are not their prisoners ; — and Congress de- 
clare they will not have any thing to do with the internal policy 
of the different states ; — we certainly are not persons subject to 
the Board of War, for we were not taken as fighting men, or 
found in arms. 

This account of Alexander White, Esq., afforded us a pros- 
pect of some favourable result ; but our hopes were much 
allayed by the accounts we subsequently received. 

In the afternoon, Colonel David Kennedy called, and read 
us an order to him from the government of Virginia, directing 
him to carry into strict execution the orders of Congress, for our 
immediate removal to Staunton. Thus we are tossed about 
from one power to another, as we have been from the first of 
our suffering, which requires a further exercise of our patience 
and stability. 

The contents of this letter plainly implying that Colonel 
Kennedy was to follow the directions of the Board of War, 
we informed him of our expectations that he would wait till 
we heard further from Alexander White, to which he gave us 
little satisfaction, but appeared to be disposed to urge our im- 
mediate removal. 

13th. — A cold frosty night, keenly cold, with little wind. 
This morning about 11 o'clock, Colonel Kennedy placed a 
guard at each door of our house, and we were again made 
close prisoners ; but in about an hour he ordered them away. 
Our landlord promoted it, because he found fault with guards 
being at his house ; and without our privity entered into a pro- 



200 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

mise that no person should be permitted to see us unless in his 
presence. 

We received a letter from Alexander White, stating his 
having returned home ; that he had left our business unfinished 
before Congress, but would come to see us in the morning. 

15th. — Our banished company came together, except Thomas 
Wharton, who was quite unwell. Alexander White, Esquire, 
met us to give a particular account of his proceedings before 
the Congress, and before the President and Council of Penn- 
sylvania, on our memorial, on which he appears to have taken 
great pains, though yet without the desired effect. The Council 
referred the case to Congress. On his return to Congress at 
York, it was again taken up several times, and as often post- 
poned through the influence of members opposed to us, and he 
came away, leaving the matter unfinished. Alexander White 
had made his own statement of our case in writing. 

Alexander White stated that he was assured by some mem- 
bers of the Board of War, that they did not mean to carry the 
order for our removal to Staunton at once into execution. 
We therefore thought it necessary to inform Colonel Kennedy 
of this view of the matter, and he readily agreed to suspend all 
preparations until further instructions came on, or that Congress 
should determine upon it. 

From the account Alexander White gave us of the conver- 
sations he had with several members of the Congress as well 
as the Council, there are many opinions. — Some are for our dis- 
charge, condemning the vhole proceeding as arbitrary and, un- 
just. Others for discharging us, because if we were dangerous 
men at the time of our being taken up, we w 7 ould now do less 
harm in Philadelphia than where we are. — Others were for dis- 
charging us, because if we pursue our own inclinations, to go 
where ice choose, and go to Philadelphia, now in possession of the 
British, and within their lines, our estates would be confiscated 
as persons joining the enemy. — Some were candid enough to say 
that they knew nothing could be proved against us. 

Colonel Wood, lately returned from camp, appears to interest 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 201 

himself very much in onr hard case ; as also Joseph Holmes, 
the Commissary. The letter to him from the Board of War, 
approved of his conduct generally, since they knew he had 
granted us the liberty of the town and vicinity of Winchester ; 
and he had no intention of taking any steps for our removal 
until he heard the result of our memorial to Congress. 

George Gilpin, who was here on a visit to his brother, 
Thomas Gilpin, has long awaited the return of Alexander 
White, Esq., to know the result of his negotiation ; he now 
expressed a willingness to go to Congress, and use his endea- 
vours for an honourable determination of our memorial, the 
consideration of which it was expected would be taken up 
again. 

On a conference thereon, it was agreed to his going, parti- 
cularly as he is well acquainted with some of the delegates 
from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and has been in the public 
service from the commencement of the war till the end of 
this campaign ; holding the office of Colonel in the Fairfax 
militia. He had a proper sense of the justness of our cause, 
and of the ill policy of the measure proposed against us. We 
are, therefore, to furnish him with the necessary papers to pro- 
secute his business. He goes first to his home at Alexandria, 
and from thence in a few days to York. 

17ih. Seventh day of the week. — Israel Pemberton wrote to 
his wife, enclosing his letter to Elias Boudinot. George Gilpin 
set off about ten o'clock. A dull day; rain and hail most of the 
day. 

18th. First day. — Our meetings silent; a high northwest 
wind and cold atmosphere. Received the following letter from 
Colonel Joseph Holmes to Miers Fisher, dated 

" Shippensburg, 1 7th of January, 1778. 
" Dear Sir, — 

" On a second consideration of the request of yourself and 

the rest of the gentlemen, I have thought it will be attended 

with civil consequences to you. 



202 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

" You'll remember it was the opinion of some gentlemen, 
who are your friends, that the reasons on which the order of 
the Board of War was founded, was principally owing to that 
indulgence permitting the gentlemen to ride out among the in- 
habitants. 

11 1 am very sensible the complaints were made to the Board 
by some men in Winchester ; and since they find it gives ear 
to such mischievous clamours, and puts you to so much trouble 
and expense, they will be glad of the opportunity to blow the 
matter up again should they meet with success. It is no more 
than probable, taking the two complaints together, the Board 
may order matters to be more disagreeable, than is at present 
expected. 

" I hope you are well convinced of my sentiments in regard 
to your unhappy situation, and likewise my confidence in you, 
and that you will not judge it to be any fear I entertain of the 
security of your persons. Believe me, I have not the least 
shadow of doubt in my mind of the gentlemen's fidelity ; my 
only motive is to prevent the bad effects, which it appears to 
me would arise, and make the gentlemen more unhappy. 

" You are not so unthinking as to know, snould those evil- 
minded persons transmit to the Board another libel, to come to 
hand before Colonel Gilpin gets down, it might in a great mea- 
sure prevent his succeeding. 

" I leave this to your own consideration, and hope you will 
judge wisely with him, 

" Who is sincerely your friend, and 

" Most humble servant, 

" Joseph Holmes. 

" To Miers Fisher, Esq." 

John Hough wrote us, that George Gilpin had called at his 
house on his way home, who informed him that we were 
allowed to remain at Winchester till Congress would decide 
on our memorial. 

George Gilpin agreed to come to John Hough's on 2d day, 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 203 

as he designed to get Colonel Peyton to accompany them to 
Congress. We answered John Hough's letter by the return of 
his son, and enclosed one from John Magill, Esq., to S. Harvie, 
and one from Colonel Wood to another delegate in Congress. 

22d. Fifth day of the week. — A clear cold day ; about eleven 
o'clock Colonel Kennedy came to ask us how many wagons 
would be necessary to remove us to Staunton, as he thought 
he must execute the orders of the Governor of Virginia, to 
obey those of the Board of War. 

We endeavoured to convince him that the orders from the 
Governor could only be conditional ; that when we were re- 
moved he was to furnish the means of conveyance to Joseph 
Holmes, the Commissary. 

We stated that the Commissary had acquainted the Board 
with our memorial to Congress, and of his having deferred to 
execute the order till an answer was returned. 

We remarked that we believed there were but few persons 
in Winchester who entertained any prejudice against us, but if 
there were any and we could know it and the cause, we would 
be glad of an opportunity to remove it, and to correct or ex- 
plain any part of our conduct which had been objectionable to 
them. 

He said he knew nothing, but that some millers had lately 
refused to grind rye and other grain for the distillers, which 
they thought w r as owing to our advice and influence. 

We told him we understood it to be by the advice of our 
Society to its members, and not by us. 

He acknowledged that caution was necessary, but it ought 
to be done by the Legislature, and not by private persons. 
He said he disapproved so much of the practice of distilling 
spirit from grain, that he and some others designed to apply to 
the Legislature for a law to prohibit it. 

25th. First day of the week. — Our meeting held as usual in 
the morning and in the afternoon, when John Hunt made some 
encouraging remarks to us. 

William Matthews, from Yorktown, informed us that he had 



204 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

left Yorktown on 5th day, 26th, when several of the committee 
from Pipe Creek had laid before a committee of Congress, the 
sufferings of the exiles. Several of the delegates were favoura- 
bly disposed, but others were sworn against us, having strong 
prejudices against the Society. No particular cause was 
argued for our unjust banishment, nor any complaint against 
any part of our conduct here. 

William Matthews brought the following order from the 
new Board of War, which we showed to Colonel Kennedy, 
when he came to see us on the arrival of the mail from Balti- 
more. 

"War Office, 21st January, 1778. 
" Sir — 

" As the prisoners sent from Pennsylvania have sent a me- 
morial to Congress, which lays before them undetermined, I 
am to direct you to suspend the removal of those gentlemen to 
Staunton, until you receive the further directions of this Board. 
" I am, with due respect, 

" Horatio Gates, 

" President. 

" To the County Lieutenant of Frederick, or Deputy Com- 
missary General of prisoners, of Winchester, Virginia, sent to 
the Honourable John Harvie." 

31st. — This morning the celebrated Colonel Jacob Morgan, 
lately returned from the American camp, on a visit to his 
family, residing about fifteen miles from Winchester, came to 
see us. 

After some conversation we found him more free and sociable 
in his expressions than we expected. We gave him one of the 
pamphlets containing the narrative of our case until we were 
sent out of Philadelphia. 

We conversed on this and other subjects affably. He ap- 
peared impartial and disposed to hear, by which means some 
objections which he made to our conduct were answered, and 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 205 

the unfavourable prepossessions which he had received con- 
cerning Friends arising from wrong reports, obviated. 

He acknowledged ice had been treated injuriously, and in- 
consistent with liberty and the common justice due to us and to 
all men, by being banished and deprived of a hearing which we 
had demanded. 

1st day of 2d month, 1778. First day of the week. — Our 
meetings both morning and afternoon small. 

2d. — Attended the monthly meeting at Hopewell, this day 
the second of the week. 

John Hunt spoke largely and prophetically, saying the night 
was far gone and the day of our deliverance was at hand ; but 
he stated he should not have another public opportunity with 
friends there ; he said distress and calamity would be spread 
over the country. 

5th. — A fine day. In the evening Isaac Zane returned from 
Yorktown. He gave us an account of the conferences he and 
the friends who accompanied him had with the delegates of 
Congress. In these, they had an opportunity to correct many 
of the false reports concerning the conduct of Friends in Penn- 
sylvania, which had occasioned them to be under great preju- 
dices against our religious Society. 

He also stated that in pursuance of their application, a com- 
mittee of three members was appointed by Congress to meet 
them on our particular circumstance, which gave them an 
opportunity for a candid hearing. 

At length they allowed that they had no other accusation 
against us than the several epistles of advice which had been 
published by the Meeting for Sufferings in Philadelphia, exciting 
the members of our religious Society to maintain a conduct con- 
sistent with our religious principles. 

The committee urged our enlargement from exile, or that 
Congress would give us an opportunity to be heard in our de- 
fence, which hitherto could not be obtained. 

After some time, a resolve of Congress, dated on the 29th, 
was delivered to them, of which the following is a copy 



206 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



IN CONGRESS. 

" 29th January, 1778. 

" Resolved, That the prisoners now at Winchester, in the 
State of Virginia, who have been apprehended by the govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania, in consequence of the resolution of Con- 
gress dated 28th August, 1777, be discharged from their con- 
finement, on their taking or subscribing either the oath or 
affirmation of allegiance, as prescribed by the laws of Penn- 
sylvania, or the following oath or affirmation, at the option of 
the persons concerned. 

" I, A. B.,do swear, (or affirm) that I acknowledge myself a 
subject of the State of Pennsylvania, as a free and independent 
state, and that I will in all things demean myself as a good and 
faithful subject ought to do." 

We received a letter from George Gilpin, dated at York- 
town, 1st February, 1778, informing us he came to that place 
in company with John Hough, the day after the foregoing 
resolve, and met Isaac Zane and four of our friends, who had 
been attending to our business. Pie had conversations with 
several members of Congress, who as men, wished we were in 
Philadelphia attending to our families. 

7th day of 2d month. — Sent a copy of the resolve of Con- 
gress, and George Gilpin's letter, to Philadelphia. 

8th day. First day of the week. — Our meeting in the morn- 
ing attended by twelve of the exiles. Wind at northeast, and 
snow. 

10th day of 2d month. — A more southerly wind. About 
five o'clock, Dr. Thomas Parke and James Morton, to our 
great joy, and unexpected surprise, came from Philadelphia to 
see us, and brought us letters. 

Our friends had remained in anxious solicitude and suspense 
on account of the orders sent to remove us to Staunton ; our 
letters since the orders were countermanded, had not reached 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 207 

them ; and for want of not knowing how things were, these 
friends had to undertake this long journey, to come to see us. 
We spent the evening in inquiries about our families, and the 
general state of things in Philadelphia. 

12th. — A clear day and windy. Ground covered with snow. 
Doctor Parke and James Morton, accompanied by John Pem- 
berton, and Thomas Gilpin, went to Hopewell meeting, and to 
visit our companions there. John Pemberton and Thomas 
Gilpin returned in the evening. 

13th. — Sixth day of the week, windy, clear and cold. 
Thomas Bates and William Robinson, of North Carolina, 
who were with us about four weeks ago, came back from the 
Indian country. They had gone to within thirty miles of Pitts- 
burg, where they were apprehended by some of the magistrates 
of Westmoreland County, and the test of allegiance to the 
States tendered to them, which they refusing to take, were put 
under confinement, and treated as prisoners near a month, their 
certificates taken from them, and treated with rough language 
and many threats ; but on the violence of the people abating, 
they were discharged, though not allowed to proceed on their 
journey; the magistrates withdrawing their warrant, after their 
steady refusal to comply with their arbitrary demands ; and as 
they were not permitted to accomplish their journey, they were 
most easy to return home. The people on the frontiers are in 
commotion from an apprehension of an Indian war, some of 
the Indian people having been killed in a very cruel manner by 
the whites. 

14th day of 2d month, 1778. — Cloudy and snow. Dr. Thomas 
Parke and James Morton, spent the evening with us, and as 
there appeared a necessity for their speedy return, they con- 
cluded to set off on 2d day morning, the 16th. 

15th of 2d month. First day of the week. — Our meeting 
this morning consisted of only seven of us exiles, who reside 
in the house of Philip Bush, and three from Isaac Brown's, 
with Doctor Parke and James Morton, (James Pemberton's 
two sons-in-law,) who came last week to visit us, Henry 



208 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Drinker, Samuel Pleasants, and Thomas Gilpin being in their 
chambers unwell. 

16th day of 2d month. — A clear cold day. After dinner, 
about three o'clock, Doctor Thomas Parke and James Morton 
left us, intending to go to Lewis Neale's that night. Thomas 
Fisher, Miers Fisher, and Thomas Affleck accompanied them ; 
I (James Pemberton) was too unwell to go out. I thus parted 
with my two sons. I wrote to my family, and sent my diary 
from the time of my leaving Reading, the 20th of 9th month, to 
the 14th instant. 

In the evening, I had cause to suspect that Thomas Pike 
had eloped, having left us this morning under a pretence of 
going to Isaac Zane's ironworks, and were informed he did 
not go there. I gave my sons notice to prevent his imposing 
himself upon them in the course of their journey. I thought 
it best they should return by way of Fairfax, as it was first in- 
tended ; and sent my servant Richard with a note stating that 
our company considered that Thomas Pike had acted dis- 
honourably ; that he was suspected of going off, and that Com- 
missary Holmes would be informed of it in the morning. 

17th. — In the afternoon, Major Holmes called; he had heard 
of Thomas Pike's elopement. We told him all the circum- 
stances we knew of him ; that he was a stranger to us till he 
was sent away with us from Philadelphia ; but we considered 
him not to be under the same restraint of principle which 
we are. 

Major Holmes behaved very politely to us on the occasion. 
He took a memorandum toward forming an advertisement, 
and having to send an express to the Board of War, he would 
inform Congress of the suspicions respecting him. 

20th day of 2d month. — Sixth day of the week ; dull, cold 
weather. George Gilpin arrived from Yorktown and Lan- 
caster, where he had been since the 28th of last month, using 
his endeavours for a favourable determination of our memorials 
to the Congress and to the Council of Pennsylvania, — in which 
he w 7 as not successful. He informed us that on his arrival at 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 209 

York, he found our friends had nearly completed their con- 
ference with the delegates, and that Congress had entered into 
" the Resolve," on the contents of our memorial. 

Some of the members of Congress told George Gilpin, that 
if the Council of Pennsylvania would signify their desire for 
our discharge, they believed Congress would agree to it It was 
accomplished in this way, as it will hereafter appear. 

George Gilpin very prudently did not make himself known 
to the President, and but few of the people, and returned to us, 
after having been detained at the crossing of the Susquehanna 
eight days by the ice. 

23d. — A message was sent us from E. JolifFe's, that our 
friend John Hunt, who had been confined to his bed for several 
days, was much worse ; being suddenly seized with a pain in 
his leg which had rendered it entirely useless, and greatly 
alarmed the family. 

28th. — James Pemberton returned from Thomas Brown's, 
and found our friend Thomas Gilpin in a very unfavourable 
way; reduced by much weakness, though not attended by pain 
or a high fever. His three brothers, Thomas Fisher, Samuel 
R. Fisher, and Miers Fisher, attend him with great care and 
affection. 

Winchester, 1st day of 3d month, 1778. First day of the 
week. — Our meeting this morning was small, six of us only 
attending. In the afternoon, with our friends Isaac Everett 
and William Penrose, from York County, Pennsylvania, we 
had about thirty persons, the largest meeting we have had for 
a considerable time. 

2d. — About half-past twelve o'clock, 2d day of 3d month, 
1778, our fellow-sufferer, Thomas Gilpin, was taken out of this 
transitory life. He had been in a low state for several days, 
and had borne his previous sickness with great patience, as he 
had borne his unreasonable exile, and cruel separation from his 
wife and family. 

Having been blessed with a mild disposition, and good 
mental qualifications, his intercourse with us has been always 

14 



210 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



steady and amiable, so that he has been apparently contented 
since our confinement. He has borne his affliction with great 
stability and fortitude, and was sustained through his illness 
with great composure of mind. He was blessed with his un- 
derstanding to the last, and sensible of his approaching end, 
which he expressed to his brothers, who affectionately attended 
him. He had been ill with a fever, the consequence of a severe 
cold, which he had caught by exposure about two weeks 
before. 



AN ACCOUNT OP THE ILLNESS AND DECEASE OF THOMAS GILPIN, OF 

PHILADELPHIA, AT WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA. 

From the Journal of Israel Pemberton. 

The case of our friend, Thomas Gilpin, has been painful to 
us all. 

By exposing himself after our meeting, on the 6th day of 
the 2d month, 1778, in the meadow, about a mile from Win- 
chester, he took a violent cold, but after taking some medicine, 
he appeared to be as well as usual. 

On the 12th, he went with our friend John Pemberton, Doc- 
tor Parke, and James Morton, to Hopewell meeting, and on 
returning home, he was indisposed, and went early to bed. 

On first day, the 15th, at his request, Doctor Parke bled 
him, but this did not afford him relief. 

On third day he seemed worse, his fever having increased, 
and Doctor Parke having gone to Philadelphia, he was attended 
to by Doctor Macky ; and after taking some diluting drinks, 
we considered him better. 

On the 19th, his brother George Gilpin returned to Win- 
chester, from Yorktown, where he had been to Congress, and 
to the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, on our account; he 
then appeared better, and we were without any apprehension 
of danger ; so that his brother George Gilpin left him on the 
20th, to go to his own family at Alexandria. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 211 

But on the seventh day of the week, the 21st, he grew much 
weaker, and could bear but little conversation ; from that time 
till the 23d, he began to be ill, and we apprehended he was in 
danger. 

On the 26th and 27th he had less fever, but his weakness in- 
creased till the first of the 3d month, when he was evidently so 
very ill that we apprehended his approaching dissolution. 

About 10 o'clock at night, a rough draft of his will had been 
brought to him, in which it was said that " he with a number of 
others, had been unjustly banished ;" but he desired that such 
an expression should not be continued in it, as it would cast a 
reflection on persons who had caused it. And after this, I took 
leave of him, when he was quite sensible and composed, and 
he told me he had nothing upon his mind. 

In about half an hour, he desired his wife's brothers to re- 
member his dear love to his wife and children. Soon after 
this, the young woman who attended us, sat by him, and he 
said, " Katy, I am going the way of all flesh, and I hope it is 
in mercy ; thou hast been a good girl, and my brothers will 
reward thee ;" and after a short interval, he said, " There are 
many religions in the world, and a variety of forms, which 
have occasioned great persecutions, and the loss of many lives, 
each contending that they are right ; but there is but one true 
religion, arising from faith in God, and in his son Jesus Christ, 
and hope in his mercy. A monitor placed in every mind, 
which if we attend to, we cannot err." He repeatedly expressed 
a wish that this monitor was attended to. He several times 
desired those about him to be very still, as he hoped he should 
also be; after which he said very little, his breath grew shorter, 
and without sigh or groan, or any sensible emotion, he quietly 
departed at half an hour after midnight. 

He was interred in Friends' burial ground at Hopewell, in 
Fairfax County, near Winchester, Virginia, on the third day 
of the week, the third day of the third month, 1778, attended by 
a considerable number of Friends, and a few others, although 
the season was very severe, and the notice not so general as 
was intended. 



212 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

After the interment, we had a good meeting at Hopewell, in 
which our friends Joshua Brown and Isaac Everett had an 
acceptable testimony; the latter in fervent supplications, which 
I believe ascended with acceptance to the throne of grace, and 
in which our distant friends are remembered, who are com- 
panions in our afflictions. 

Thus, one of us is happily released from the power of our 
oppressors ; and as our landlady observed, " He died like a 
Christian," which I believe may be truly said of him. 

I had but little acquaintance with him before our being con- 
fined together; but his conduct recommended him much to my 
esteem. 

He was steady in maintaining his own sentiments, but with 
due care to give no cause of offence to others. His principles 
were liberal, free from bigotry to any party : thus he could dis- 
cover that w T hich was laudable or culpable in either. He sup- 
ported his opinion, but without severity ; and never expressed 
one murmur or complaint on our unjust suffering during his 

illness. 

Israel Pemberton. 
Winchester, 3d month, 1778. 



Winchester, 2d day of the 3d month, 1778. Second day of 
the week. — Very cold and clear. We hear that John Hunt is 
much the same as for a day or two past. Henry Drinker and 
Samuel Pleasants came down stairs, and are recovering. 
Doctor Macky says that the town of Winchester has never 
been so sickly before. 

3d. Third day of the w^eek. — A dull morning, the wind from 
the north, cold. This day being appointed for the interment of 
our fellow-exile, Thomas Gilpin, and the arrangements being 
made, the company set off from the house of Philip Bush, 
Winchester, about ten o'clock, several persons from the neigh- 
bourhood, and some town people attending. The snow being 
deep, and the roads much unbeaten, we did not reach Hope- 
well meeting (six miles.) until near one o'clock, where there 
were many other Friends assembled. After the interment we 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 213 

had a satisfactory sitting at the meeting-house, and returned to 
Winchester. 

8th day of the 3d month, and the first day of the week. — 
Eight of our company attended our meeting at the house of 
Philip Bush ; meeting silent. 

12th. — Went out to David Brown's, but returned to Hope- 
well, where we received an unfavourable account of John 
Hunt; a mortification had begun in his leg, and made such 
progress that an amputation of his limb was the only means of 
arresting it. John Pemberton went immediately to visit him. 

15th day of 3d month. First day of the week. — Six of us, 
lodgers at Philip Bush's, made up the meeting. Miers Fisher 
confined to his chamber unwell. 

John Hunt had been visited at Hopewell by our friend John 
Pemberton, and his case was so precarious that it was con- 
cluded to send for Doctor General Stephens, an old and ex- 
perienced physician and surgeon, for his opinion and judgment. 
William Smith had rode all night on 7th day, to invite him to 
come ; he living twenty miles from Hopewell. 

On the meeting of Drs. Macky and Stephens, they came to 
a conclusion that an amputation was the only expedient to 
save the patient's life ; which, when communicated to John 
Hunt, he received the information with a composed mind. He 
agreed the operation should be performed, and they fixed upon 
the next day for the purpose. 

16th. — We had concluded for some time to remove our 
quarters from Philip Bush's ; divers reasons concurring to 
render it expedient. The persons who have sent us here 
having taken no pains to provide a place for our residence, or 
any support for us, we are under the necessity of seeking out a 
suitable one for ourselves; and our friend David Brown, who 
lives about five miles southward of Winchester, having agreed 
to accommodate us, my brothers, Israel Pemberton, John Pem- 
berton, and myself, Henry Drinker, and Samuel Pleasants, 
concluded to go there. Our friends, David Brown and Sarah 
his wife, had prepared the house to receive us, and we took a 
friendly leave of our landlord, Philip Bush, and his wife. 



214 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

My brother John Pemberton informs me, that Edward Pen- 
nington continues very poorly, and as Miers Fisher has been 
unwell for several days, he and his brothers, Thomas Fisher 
and Samuel R. Fisher, have been prevented from removing to 
Lewis Neale's, as intended. 

22d. — This morning the physicians having concluded that 
an amputation was the only means by which the life of our 
friend John Hunt could be preserved, it was communicated to 
him, and he became resigned to it. 

He was enabled to endure the operation with fortitude and 
composure, so that the surgeon observed to him when he had 
finished and dressed the wound, " Sir, you have behaved like a 
hero l M to which he mildly replied, " I have endeavoured to 
bear it like a Christian." The physicians continued to attend 
him with care, and had for some days hopes of his recovery, 
as for some time afterwards he appeared lively. 

31st day of 3d month. — Clear, cold, windy. In the after- 
noon we received from Samuel Pleasants, who had been at 
Winchester, the following extract of a letter, from John Harvie, 
a delegate in Congress, to John Magill, Esquire, at Winchester, 
dated at Yorktown a few days past. 

"Congress have ordered the Board of War to deliver the gen- 
tlemen of Philadelphia, now prisoners at Winchester, to the 
order of the State of Pennsylvania, which means shortly to 
send for them and bring them to trial on the charge formerly 
established." 

Which John Magill delivered with the letter, that we might 
be informed fully of the contents of it. 

First day of 4th month, 1778, fourth day of the week. — A 
very spring-like morning. 

I went over alone to Hopewell, having been for some days 
desirous to see our afflicted friend, John Hunt, and w T as in- 
formed there, he was released from the afflictions and troubles 
of this life at about 10 o'clock, on the 31st of 3d month, and 
when I reached Eliza Joliffe's, my fellow-exiles residing there 
had agreed upon his interment to be to-morrow morning, and 
Charles Eddy had gone to inform us of it. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 215 

Edward Pennington is very unwell, but as his disorder has 
reached his feet, he may soon recover. 

James Pemberton states that he had received the following 
particulars respecting the decease of our worthy friend, John 
Hunt. 

He bore his heavy trial with great patience and Christian 
resignation, which conveyed instruction to all who were with 
him ; he was cheerful though silent, and after as well as be- 
fore the operation, slept and eat sufficiently. His having laid 
so long in one position was tiresome and painful. He bore the 
dressing of the wound well ; yet in about a week he declined. 
Something of a paralytic affection attended him, and his speech 
faltered as he grew weaker. He remained in a very composed 
state of mind, and expressed no apprehensions concerning him- 
self, and he departed this life very easily, on the 31st day of 
3d month, at about 10 o'clock in the evening. 

Second of 4th month ; fifth day of the week. — I set off before 
eight o'clock, with my brother John Pemberton and A. M'Coy, 
for Hopewell, to attend the interment of our dear friend, John 
Hunt. Rain fell until we reached Winchester, but not after- 
wards. 

We reached E. Joliffe's, and the company, which was large 
and consisted of Friends and others, started at 10 o'clock. 
After the interment in the grave-yard near the meeting-house, 
the company retired into it, and we had a very satisfactory 
meeting. 

Thus the last act of respect and love was solemnly paid to 
the remains of a dignified minister of the Gospel, whose gift 
was eminent, and he had laboured in it forty years. His de- 
livery was clear and intelligible, and his doctrine sound and 
edifying. He was often favoured with great power and de- 
monstration, singularly manifested in our meetings for worship 
we had during the time of our exile at Winchester. And he 
expressed himself much concerned that the inhabitants should 
come to a knowledge of the truth, and a due feeling for their 



216 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

own eternal welfare ; and although but few of them knew us, 
yet they were desirous to attend our meetings. 

Being a man possessing a clear judgment and strong natural 
abilities, improved by long religious experience, he was a use- 
ful member of our religious Society ; careful for the support of 
our discipline, and spoke often pertinently to matters under 
consideration. 

He was in the 67th year of his age ; strong constitution ; 
low in stature ; but favoured through life with general good 
health. 

Fifth day of 4th month, first day of the week. — I went with 
my brother, Israel Pemberton, and Samuel Pleasants, to the 
Centre Meeting. 

10th. — Joseph Holmes informs us he meant to go to York- 
town, to visit Congress ; and Thomas Affleck being much 
afflicted by the news of the illness of his wife and children in 
Philadelphia, is very desirous to go with him, in order to apply 
to Congress for liberty to visit them. 

15th. — In the afternoon, J. Musser came as express, to bring 
a letter from J. Webbs, Lancaster, dated the 12th, to inform us 
that four of our near relatives and wives, Phebe Pemberton, 
Mary Pleasants, Susanna Jones, and Eliza Drinker, had" come 
up there a few days before to use their endeavours to obtain 
justice from our persecutors, and a release from our unmerited 
banishment. 

They write us that two persons, authorized by the President 
and Council of Pennsylvania, set out the day before to take 
charge of us, in pursuance of a resolve of Congress to the 
Board of War, to deliver us over to the President and Council ; 
and by a letter to James Pemberton from Charles Thomson, 
Secretary to Congress, now received, dated the 7th inst., I 
have a copy of the resolve, as follows, to wit : 

« In Congress, 16th of March, 1778. 

" Resolved, That the Board of War be directed to deliver 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 217 

over to the President and Council of Pennsylvania, the prisoners 
sent from that State to Virginia. 

" Extract from the minutes, 

" Charles Thomson, 

" Secretary.'' 

And by a letter dated 18th, a copy of the resolve of the 
Board of War came to my brother, Israel Pemberton, to wit : 

" Yorktown, 8th April, 1778. 
" Sir,— 

" You are hereby directed and authorized to deliver over to 
the order of the President and Council of Pennsylvania, all the 
prisoners of that State now under your care. 

" Horatio Gates, 

" President. 
" To Joseph Holmes, Esq., 

" Deputy Commissary of Prisoners at Winchester." 

Also the following subjoined : 

11 Yorktown, 8th April, 1778. 
" Sir,— 

" By order of Congress, we enclose you our directions to 
Joseph Holmes, Esq., Deputy Commissary of Prisoners at Win- 
chester, to deliver over to the President and Council of Penn- 
sylvania, or their order, all persons under his care belonging to 
that State. The orders of Congress, which are also enclosed, 
are dated 26th of March, 1778 ; and would have been imme- 
diately attended to, had not the Board expected an application 
from the President and Council for the delivery of the prisoners 
to some person authorized to receive them. 
" I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

" Horatio Gates, 

" President. 

" To his Excellency, the President and Council of Pennsyl- 
vania." 



218 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

The transaction of this business relating to our releasement, 
manifests great inattention, whether designed or accidental we 
leave — but we had reason to conclude that James Pemberton's 
letter of the 31st ultimo, to Charles Thomson, informing him 
of the intelligence we had received of the orders of Congress, 
and requesting a copy to be sent us, produced an early deter- 
mination on our case. 

We are at a loss to conjecture from what culpable motion 
an influence was exerted in the Council of Pennsylvania, to 
continue us in confinement at Winchester — many of us very 
unwell and suffering in body and in mind after the loss of two 
of our companions by death. After the time of the resolve of 
Congress, of the lGth March, 1778, to liberate us, to the time 
our situation was forced upon the Council of Pennsylvania, by 
the resolution of the Board of War, dated 8th of April, the 
long time of twenty-three days passed when the order to Joseph 
Holmes, Esq., commissary of the prisoners, became absolute. 

It appears that the order of the Board of War was imme- 
diately sent forward to the Council at Lancaster, which came 
to the resolve to send us two messengers to escort us to Ship- 
pensburg, and thus to discharge us. 

The resolution of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania is 
as follows, viz. : 



"IN COUNCIL. 

" Lancaster, April 8th, 1776. 

" The resolve of the Congress of 16th March last, ' That the 
Board of War be directed to deliver over to the order of the 
President and Council of Pennsylvania, the prisoners sent from 
this State to Virginia,' being now read, and the law for the 
further security of the government taken into consideration, as 
far as affects the said prisoners, 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 219 

" Thereupon ordered, That the said prisoners, to wit: 

Israel Pemberton, Thomas Gilpin, 

John Pemberton, Samuel R. Fisher, 

John Hunt, Samuel Pleasants, 

Thomas Wharton, Owen Jones, Jr., 

James Pemberton, Charles Jervis, 

Edward Pennington, Miers Fisher, 

Henry Drinker, Thomas Affleck, 

Thomas Fisher, William Smith, 

Charles Eddy, William Drewet Smith, 
Elijah Brown, 

be brought to Shippensburg, and there enlarged. 

" That they be informed of the law passed for the security 
of the government, by giving to Mr. Israel Pemberton or some 
one of the prisoners, a printed copy of the said law for the in- 
spection of the whole. [See page 225.] 

" That Mr. Francis Y. Baily and Captain Lang, be appointed 
to apply to the Board of War to receive from them an order 
for the delivery of the prisoners sent from this state to Virginia, 
and that the Board of War be requested to give orders for such 
assistance in procuring wagons to bring the prisoners on to 
this state as may be necessary. That the said Francis Y. 
Baily and Captain Lang receive and conduct the said prisoners 
to Shippensburg, in this state, and there set them at liberty; and 
that on their journey they may be treated with the respect due 
to their characters. 

" Ordered, That the Lieutenants of the counties through 
which the aforesaid prisoners may pass, give the necessary 
assistance to Mr. Baily and Captain Lang, by furnishing 
wagons and other assistance they will be in need of. 
" Extracts from the minutes, 

" T. Matlack, 

" Secretary." 

It will be observed on comparing the list, that the prisoners 



220 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

to be brought back into Pennsylvania, are mentioned to be 
the same as those sent into banishment, with the exception of 
Thomas Pike, who had left the company. 

But it was well known in Pennsylvania that two of the com- 
pany had died, owing to some of the causes coanected with 
their situation, and the anxieties which had from time to time 
affected them ; and yet — Could it have been unknown to the 
Council of Pennsylvania, or could they have so disregarded 
the feelings of society, as to place the names of two highly 
esteemed individuals, who died in Virginia during their long 
and unmerited banishment, in the list of those liberated to return 
home to their families! ! 

These had been previously liberated from the hand of the 
oppressor : 

Thomas Gilpin died on the 2d of the third month, 1778. 
John Hunt died on the 31st of the third month, 1778. 

It is far more than probable that the general sympathy ex- 
isting on the occasion, called for this act of restitution as a 
compromise respecting the remaining sufferers. 

The following is a copy of the orders given by the President 
and Council of Pennsylvania, to Captain James Lang and 
Francis Y. Baily, Esq., relative to their conduct to the prisoners 
on their route from Winchester, Virginia, to Pennsylvania. 

"IN COUNCIL. 

"Lancaster, April 10th, 1778. 
" Gentlemen, — 

" The enclosed resolves of the Council will show that you 
are appointed and authorized to conduct the prisoners sent from 
this state to Virginia, from Winchester, the place of their pre- 
sent confinement. 

" It is reported that several of those gentlemen are in a bad 
state of health, and unfit to travel ; if you find this to be the 
case, they must be left where they are for the present. Those 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 221 

of them who are in health, you are to bring with you, treating 
them on the road with that polite attention and care which is 
due from men who act on the purest motives, to gentlemen 
whose stations in life entitle them to respect, however they may 
differ in political sentiments from those in whose power they 
are. You will please to give them every aid in your power 
by procuring the necessary means of travelling, in wagons or 
otherwise, with such baggage as may be convenient for them 
on the road. 

"Enclosed is an order of the Board of War to Joseph 
Holmes, Esq., to deliver over those gentlemen to the order of 
the Council and for the delivery being made to you. 

" Perhaps it may be convenient to divide those gentlemen 
into two companies, for their better accommodation on the 
road; in this respect you may consult the inclination and 
choice of the gentlemen themselves. Your own prudence and 
good sense will direct you in such incidents as may turn up, in 
which the Council have no doubt but that your conduct will 
justify their confidence in you. 

" I am, gentlemen, with much respect, 
" Your very humble servant, 

" Thomas Wharton, Jr. 

" To Francis Y. Baily and 

Captain James Lang." 

It is proper to remark that this letter was the last official act 
of Thomas Wharton relative to the prisoners. He died at Lan- 
caster, 23d of May, 1778. 

Four of the female relations, to wit, Mary Pleasants, Su- 
sanna Jones, Eliza Drinker, and Phebe Pemberton, came out 
of Philadelphia, and passed the English and American lines, to 
visit General Washington at his camp at Valley Forge, about 
the fourth of April, in order to procure permission to send pro- 
visions to their friends, and to meet them on their way home. 
They had written previously to General Washington the fol- 



222 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



lowing letter. This letter and visit produced the following letters 
from him to Governor Thomas Wharton, jun. 

" Philadelphia, 31st of the 3d month, 1778. 
" TO GENERAL WASHINGTON. 

" Esteemed Friend, — 

" The pressing necessity of an application to thee, when per- 
haps thy other engagements of importance may by it be inter- 
rupted, I hope will plead my excuse. It is on behalf of myself 
and the rest of the suffering and afflicted parents, wives, and 
near connexions of our beloved husbands, now in banishment 
at Winchester. What adds to our distress in this sorrowful 
circumstance is the account we have lately received of the 
removal of one of them by death, and that divers of them are 
much indisposed ; and as we find they are in want of necessaries 
proper for sick people, we desire the favour of General Wash- 
ington to grant a protection for one or more wagons, and for 
the persons we may employ to go with them, in order that they 
may be accommodated with what is suitable, for which we 
shall be much obliged. 

" Signed, on behalf of the whole, 

" Mary Pemberton." 

"Headquarters, Valley Forge, 5th April, 1778. 
" TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR WHARTON. 

" Sir — 

" I take the liberty to enclose you a letter from Mrs. Mary 
Pemberton, requesting a passport for some wagons to be sent 
out with articles for the use of her husband and others now in 
confinement ; as the persons concerned are prisoners of the 
State, I did not think proper to comply with her request. 

" I have assured her I would transmit the letter to you, and 
did not doubt but that the application would meet your early 
concurrence. 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 223 

" If you will be pleased to send the passport required, to me, 
I will convey it by a flag; the letter mentions one or more 
wagons. I dare say you will extend the indulgence as far as 
may be requisite and consistent with propriety. 
" I have the honour to be, sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

" G. Washington." 



" TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS WHARTON, ESQ., AT LANCASTER. 
" Headquarters, Valley Forge, 6 April, 1778. 

" Sir,— 

" Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Pleasants, and two other ladies connected 
with the Quakers confined at Winchester, Virginia, waited 
upon me this day for permission to pass to Yorktown, to en- 
deavour to obtain the release of their friends. 

"As they were admitted by the officer of the advanced picket 
to come within the camp, I thought it safer to suffer them to 
proceed than oblige them to return immediately to the city. 

" You will judge of the propriety of permitting them to pro- 
ceed further than Lancaster, but from appearances I imagine 
their request may be safely granted. As they seem much dis- 
tressed — humanity pleads strongly in their behalf. 
" I have the honour to be, sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

" G. Washington." 

The committee of women on their arrival at Lancaster 
heard of the resolves of the Council, and applied directly to the 
President and Council to obtain an alteration in the place of 
our discharge, that we should be brought to the borough of 
Lancaster. This appears from an extract of a letter from 
Timothy Matlack to James Pemberton, dated 10th of April, 
1778 ; and the resolve is as follows : 



224 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



"IN COUNCIL. 



" Lancaster, 10th April, 1778. 

" Ordered, That the prisoners now in Virginia be brought to 
this borough, to be discharged there. 

" Extract from the minutes, 

" Timothy Matlack, 
" Secretary." 



JOURNAL CONTINUED. 



Winchester, 16th day of 4th month, 1778. 

James Pemberton received a letter from Timothy Matlack, 
dated Lancaster, 10th of April, 1778, as follows: 

" A day or two ago, Council received from the Board of 
War an order to Mr. Holmes, at Winchester, to deliver the 
prisoners of this state under his care, to the order of the Coun- 
cil, who have sent forward Mr. Francis Y. Baily and Captain 
James Lang to receive and conduct you to this borough, where 
you will be se at liberty, soon after your arrival. 

" It was intended to have set you at liberty at Shippensburg, 
but at the request of your wife, (Phebe Pemberton,) Susanna 
Jones, Mary Pleasants, and Eliza Drinker, the first resolution 
was altered. They came here with an address to Council, re- 
questing the liberty of the prisoners, signed by the wives and 
near relations of your company. 

" The time of their arrival here was very lucky, as a few 
hours of delay would have lost the opportunity of obtaining this 
alteration, which appears to me much in your favour. 

" Although you may think, when you shall have read the 
enclosed law, ' For the further security of the government,' 
your case is sufficiently hard ; the law requires your attention, 
and may greatly affect the property of some of you ; it there- 
fore deserves your most serious consideration on your way to 



RESIDENCE AT WINCHESTER. 225 

this place, as you will have to take such measures as your judg- 
ment may point out to you soon after your arrival here. It is 
necessary to say this, lest you should not advert to the law be- 
fore your arrival." 

The paragraph of the law to which Timothy Matlack re- 
ferred is as follows. The law being entitled, " An Act for the 
further security of the Government." 

" Section VI. — And whereas, many persons have frequently 
gone into the City of Philadelphia, since the same has been in 
possession of the British army, under a pretence of business, or 
of visiting friends, but probably with a view of giving intelli- 
gence to the enemy ; for the prevention of which in future 

" Be it enacted, That if any person whatsoever shall, from 
and after the publication of this act, on any pretence whatso- 
ever, go by land or water through or from any part of this 
state into the said city while in possession of the British army, 
or within the lines of the enemy in any part of this state, with- 
out obtaining leave in writing for that purpose, from Congress, 
the commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States of 
America, or of the Executive Council of this commonwealth, 
and shall be lawfully convicted thereof in any Court of Oyer 
and Terminer, and general jail delivery, or Court of Quarter 
Sessions of the peace for any county of this state, he or she 
shall be fined in any sum not less than fifty pounds,, and impri-. 
soned at the discretion of the court," &c. 

From which it is evident that the resolve ordering us to be- 
brought to Shippensburg would have subjected us. to further diffi^ 
culty, and that the design of our release isf-as ky no means, justly 
accomplished, but which under Providence, by the arrival of the 
good women and their seasonable application to Council^ was 
frustrated, by directing we should, be, brought to Lancaster. 

18th of 4th month, and seventh: day of the week. — We were 
informed that Captain J^mes Lang and Francis ¥'., Baily 
arrived last night at Winchester* Some part of our company 



226 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

went to confer with them, and they freely communicated the 
instructions they had concerning us. 

They are to escort us to Lancaster, to see that we have civil 
treatment on our journey. But as they and the horses require 
rest, it would not be suitable for them to set out for two or 
three days. They therefore propose we should go on and join 
them at Fredericktown, Maryland, on the 24th, which is 
agreeable to the company. 



RETURN JOURNEY TO PENNSYLVANIA. 

On the 19th day of 4th month, 1778, first day of the week, 
having our baggage packed up and left in the care of our 
landlord, David Brown, to be sent to Winchester, we took 
leave of the family and set off about ten o'clock, — Israel Pem- 
berton, John Pemberton, James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, 
and Samuel Pleasants, inmates of the house of David Brown, 
from the 16th of the 3d month, — having been very kindly enter- 
tained by him and his wife, Sarah Brown. We went to Centre 
Meeting in the morning, and at the conclusion of the meeting 
to-day, several Friends, who had shown us much kindness in 
the course of our exile, were present, and we took an affec- 
tionate leave of each other. 

Several of us went over to Lewis Neal's to dinner, and 
there met with Alexander White, Esq., Thomas Fisher, Samuel 
R. Fisher, and Miers Fisher, who have lived there about a 
month. 

We stayed at night at the Widow Smith's, the sister of our 
landlady, Sarah Brown. Were kindly entertained in a very 
genteel manner, the neatest accommodation for lodging, our 
horses well taken care of, and on a beautiful farm in good 
order. 

20th day of 4th month, second day of the week. — Set off on 
a cool morning. Crossed the Shenandoah River in a ferry- 
boat: and crossed the South Mountain at very high and beau- 



RETURN JOURNEY TO PENNSYLVANIA. 227 

tiful prospects, and reached our friend Mahlon Janney's, in 
Loudon County, about five o'clock, where we were received 
by him and his wife Sarah with cordial welcome. We spent 
the evening there, and had most comfortable lodgings. He has 
a place about a mile from Fairfax meeting, with a mill, in a 
very fertile country, though the land generally is not so rich 
as it is in Frederick County. 

21st. — A pleasant morning. Our friend Mahlon Janney went 
with us to John Hough's, where we met with our exiled brethren 
Thomas Wharton, Owen Jones, jun., Edward Pennington, and 
Thomas Fisher, Samuel R. Fisher, and Miers Fisher, who 
came over about noon, and went home with Joseph Janney. 

22d. — We parted with our kind friends, Mahlon and Sarah 
Janney, to go toward Fredericktown. We crossed the Potomac 
River at the ferry, about three o'clock, and were very kindly 
entertained at R. Richardson's, where Dr. Parke and James 
Morton had been so kindly received on their way from Win- 
chester. 

23d, fourth day of the week. — We reached Fredericktown 
to breakfast. All our company being now assembled here, and 
where we met our escort, Captain James Lang and Francis Y. 
Baily, after a conference we agreed to meet again in the morn- 
ing at Yorktown, which we accomplished. 

24th, fifth day of the week. — We stopped at Yorktown at 
the house of George UpdegrafF, where General Gates, who re- 
sided next door, came to see us, and after we had our horses 
taken care of, we waited on him. 

He received us with much openness and civility, and said 
" If I had been in Philadelphia at the time of your being 
arrested and sent into exile, I would have prevented it." 

He told us that intelligence had just been received of resolu- 
tions of the Parliament of Great Britain, and that they were 
proposed to be enacted into laws, repealing several of the acts 
oppressive to America, and appointing Commissioners to come 
over to treat with the Americans for settling the unhappy con- 
test ; at all of which, General Gates seemed much pleased, and 



228 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

he said he thought Great Britain had agreed to all the Ameri- 
cans had heretofore asked or contended for. 

After some further conversation respecting our exile and 
journey, we informed him we had agreed to meet our escorts 
at this town, and that we had come on by their permission, 
having left them at Fredericktown. 

We were desirous to go on to Lancaster if he approved of 
it ; and he cheerfully signified it under his handwriting, and 
mentioned that as the wind was very high, we might meet with 
delay at Susquehanna Ferry. 

He therefore gave us an order to Major Eyre, the command- 
ing officer there, to assist us over in a boat belonging to the 
public, which we accepted, as follows : 

" Yorktown, 24th of April, 1778. 
" Sir,— 

" Mr. Thomas Fisher and his company are on their way to 

Lancaster, pursuant to an order of the Executive Council of 

this State. The General desires you will see them put over 

the river in your skirls, provided the other boat cannot go. 

" I am, your humble servant, 

" Isaac Pierce. 

" Major Eyre, at Wright's Ferry." 

Went to see Thomas Mifflin, who offered the like assistance, 
and treated us with much civility; he wrote to Major Eyre to 
furnish us with horses to go to Lancaster, in case it would be 
impracticable to get our own over the river, which we all ac- 
cepted, and went on after having made a short stay in the town 
to see many of our fellow-citizens, who had taken refuge there 
whilst the British army retained possession of Philadelphia. 

Samuel Pleasants and James Pemberton set off about 11 
o'clock, and found on our reaching Wright's Ferry at the Sus- 
quehanna River, the orders from General Gates and Thomas 
Mifflin to be very useful to us, the wind being high, and the 
boats on the opposite side. We were put over by four ship 



RETURN JOURNEY TO PENNSYLVANIA. 229 

carpenters, who were building boats for the American service, 
to convey the army over in case of need. 

On our arrival on shore, after a ready passage, we found 
Major Eyre, in company with several other military officers, 
and on our making ourselves known to him, and delivering the 
letters from General Gates and Thomas Mifflin, he very cheer- 
fully offered us horses to go to Lancaster, having been obliged 
to leave our own on the other side of the river, on account of 
the high wind; but having sufficient time, and observing the 
wind to abate, Major Eyre sent the ferry-boat over, and within 
about tw T o hours the horses were brought to us. 

About four o'clock we set off, and passing through Lan- 
caster, reached J. Webb's, where we found all our female con- 
nexions, Phoebe Pemberton, Mary Pleasants, Susanna Jones, 
and Eliza Drinker, in good health, waiting our arrival; from 
them we had an account of their proceedings, and of their 
application to the members of the Council personally, and by 
a suitable memorial, to alter the place to which the Council 
had at first ordered us to be escorted and set at liberty. 

25th of 4th month, seventh day of the week. — In the after- 
noon we met and appointed a committee to acquaint Thomas 
Wharton, jun., President of the Council, of our being come to 
Lancaster, agreeably to the appointment of Council ; and that 
we were desirous to have an interview with that Board, being 
ready to answer any matters they had against us, in support of 
their depriving us of our liberty, and detaining us so long in 
exile. 

He received the committee civilly, and informed us that the 
Council had adjourned till second day morning ; that he would 
deliver our message when the Council met, but recommended 
us to commit to writing what we thought necessary to say to 
them. He stated it to be his opinion, that the Council would 
not admit us to have a personal interview with them. 

26th day of 4th month, first day of the week. — We 
attended Friends' meeting at Lancaster. All our fellow-exiles 



230 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



were present ; and in the course of the day had a conversation 
with Timothy Matlack, Secretary to the Council. 

Having been informed that the Council would not admit us 
to a personal interview, we drew up the following short memo- 
rial, to be presented to them at their meeting, on second day 



" TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

" We the subscribers, inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, 
having been there arrested and banished to Winchester, in Vir- 
ginia, by your authority, upon groundless suspicions, without 
any offence being laid to our charge ; and being now brought 
to this place by your messenger, after a captivity of near 
eight months, think it our duty to apply to you to be reinstated 
in the full enjoyment of the liberty of which we have been so 
long deprived. 

" We are your real friends, 
Thomas Fisher, Israel Pemberton, 

Samuel R. Fisher, James Pemberton, 

Miers Fisher, Edward Pennington, 

Thomas Affleck, John Pemberton, 

Elijah Brown, Thomas Wharton, 

William Smith, Henry Drinker, 

Owen Jones, Jr. Samuel Pleasants, 

Charles Eddy, Charles Jervis. 

" Lancaster, 26th day of the 4th month, 1778." 

Lancaster, 27th day of the 4th month. — Our company met 
this morning. We signed the memorial to the President and 
Council, gave it to the Secretary, to be laid before the 
Board ; and after we had waited about two hours, the Secre- 
tary came to us, and informed us that the subject-matter had 
been duly considered and debated in Council, which had come 
to the following determination, and directed him to deliver us 



RETURN JOURNEY TO PENNSYLVANIA. 231 

a copy thereof, and to inform us that any further application to 
them on the subject was unnecessary, as they would not hear us. 



"IN COUNCIL. 

" Lancaster, April 27th, 1778. 

" The case of the prisoners brought from Virginia, now in 
this borough, being considered, thereupon ordered : 

" That they be immediately sent to Pottsgrove in the county 
of Philadelphia, and there be discharged from their confine- 
ment, and that they be furnished with a copy of this order, 
which shall be deemed a discharge. 
" Extract from the minutes. 

" Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary." 

FORM OF A PASS TO EACH PRISONER. 

"James Pemberton, of the city of Philadelphia, gentleman, one 
of the prisoners referred to by the above order of the Council, 
is hereby permitted, with his horses, servants, and baggage, to 
pass unmolested into the county of Philadelphia, agreeably to 
said order, which is to be respected as his discharge. 

" Timothy Matlack, 

" Secretary." 

On reading the resolve, we represented to the Secretary the 
injustice of the proceeding of the Council, and their unreason- 
able determination to decline restoring us to our full liberty, 
that we might return to our families from whom they had in 
the most arbitrary manner violently separated us, and unjustly 
detained us in exile almost eight months, without exhibiting 
any manner of accusation against us ; and now, as at first, re- 
fusing to hear us in our defence. 

The Secretary told us that any further application would be 



232 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

ineffectual And he used many arguments to prevail on us to 
decline making it. On which we had to separate, after urging 
the Secretary to send forward the baggage-wagon, when it 
came to Lancaster, which he said should be taken care of. 

John Pemberton w r as not easy to go on without having some 
further conversation with the Secretary, or some members of 
the Council ; he being dissatisfied with the resolve relating to 
our release. Several others of the party proceeded part of the 
way towards Pottsgrove, and some waited till morning. 

28th. — John Pemberton had an opportunity to converse with 
the Secretary, and although he did not succeed in obtaining an 
alteration of the resolve of Council, he concluded to go on 
with us on the direct road towards the city. The females went 
on in the carriage they came in, and Israel Morris attended 
them on horseback. 

After we had rode on about a mile, we were met by several 
Friends coming on to see us, w r ho understood we were not 
satisfied with the manner of our releasement ; we parted with 
them after we had gone on a few miles, and we reached our 
friend, Robert Valentine's, in the evening. 

We concluded that our friend, Israel Morris, should go on 
early in the morning, to General Washington, at headquarters, 
with the pass given him by the President and Council for the 
women, which required an endorsement from the General, to 
enable them to return into the city ; and a few lines being 
drawn up for that purpose, directed to him, they signed it. 

29th. — Fourth day of the week. A pleasant cool morning. 
Israel Morris set off early, with the letter and pass to General 
Washington. Several Friends came to see us, and we went 
on to Edward Jones's at Radnor, where by appointment Israel 
Morris met us, having accomplished the business he went 
about with expedition ; and he brought us likewise a pass 
signed by the General's Secretary, Tench Tilghman, Esquire, 
for permission for us four persons to proceed to Philadelphia 
unmolested, which was satisfactory to all of us, and we 
esteemed it a proof of the General's sense of justice and 
politeness. 



RETURN JOURNEY TO PENNSYLVANIA. 233 

About three o'clock we passed the picket guard, at the sign 
of the Sorrel Horse, at Radnor, where Colonel Livingston 
commanded; we showed him our papers, which he said were 
quite sufficient. He invited us to come into his house, but we 
acknowledged his civility, and pursued our journey. As it 
was too late to go into the city, we went to the house of our 
friend, John Roberts, which we reached about six o'clock, 
where we were kindly received by his wife, John Roberts 
having been under the necessity to reside in the city since it 
has been in possession of the British forces, in consequence of 
some exception the Americans had taken against him, and by 
whom he had suffered considerably in his property. 

30th day of the 4th month, 1778, fifth day of the week.— 
We set off from John Roberts's about 9 o'clock in the morning, 
and although we were under pleasant feelings at our return, 
these were considerably abated by observing, as we approached 
to the city, the devastations committed by the English army 
in their excursions around it. The fences being generally de- 
stroyed, the fields of grass and corn left exposed, houses demo- 
lished, and left desolate, which sorrowful appearance extends 
for some miles round the city. 

Thus, through the favour of Divine Providence, we were 
restored to our families, in a way and at a time we had little 
reason to expect it, which is worthy our humble gratitude, in 
addition to the many mercies we have experienced in our exile. 
And it should be a cause of further confidence in Divine Pro- 
vidence, to endure such dispensations as may be permitted to 
us, through the future part of our lives. 



234 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



CONCLUSION. 

In concluding the Narrative of the Friends in Exile, it should 
be considered that their banishment was one of those trials of 
faith which the Friends so frequently had to undergo in Europe 
in order to sustain their peaceable principles ; and which they 
had hoped they would never have to experience in a country 
where they had secured the liberty of conscience as a birth- 
right to all the people of the land. 

No charges of a political character could be sustained against 
the exiles, and the examination which was made of their con- 
duct during the period of their banishment, eventually left them 
without accusation — so that when party spirit subsided, the 
government was embarrassed by the reproach of having deeply 
injured innocent citizens, towards whom they had committed 
an act of great injustice. 

As soon as the troubles of the Revolution subsided, and the 
organization of a consistent government had taken place, by 
which freedom and the rights of man were restored to society, 
a just estimate of their principles and conduct became once 
more acknowledged ; and the position they had before retained 
was fully understood, and granted them, wherever their civil 
or political relations extended. 

In acknowledging the order of government and of society, and 
in rendering it their support as good citizens, they were always 
useful and distinguished ; and their views as a religious Society 
were respected and esteemed. 

Soon after the institution of the present form of government, 
they found it to be their duty to appoint a committee of their 
Yearly Meeting to wait upon the President, General Washing- 
ton, by a respectful address, which was delivered to him in per- 
son; this address is so expressive, both of their sincere and 
loyal feelings, and of the character of the Society, it is thought 



CONCLUSION. 235 

proper to insert it. That their conduct had been fully under- 
stood by General Washington, will appear in his reply, and 
this may be valued not only as an expression of his sound 
judgment, but which assuredly would not have been given 
except upon just and impartial consideration. 

The following is a copy of the very interesting address to the 
President of the United States, (George Washington,) presented 
him by a deputation from the Society of Friends, in 1789, and 
of his reply. 

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE ADDRESS OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY CALLED QUAKERS, FROM 
THEIR YEARLY MEETING FOR PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY, DELA- 
WARE, AND THE WESTERN PARTS OF MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. 

Being met in this our annual assembly, for the well ordering 
the affairs of our Religious Society, and the promotion of uni- 
versal righteousness, our minds have been drawn to consider 
that the Almighty, who ruleth in Heaven and in the kingdoms 
of men, having permitted a great revolution to take place in the 
government of this country, we are fervently concerned that 
the rulers of the people may be favoured with the council of 
God; the only sure means of enabling them to fulfil the impor- 
tant trusts committed to their charge, and in an especial man- 
ner, that Divine wisdom and grace vouchsafed from above, may 
qualify thee to fill up the duties of the exalted station to which 
thou art appointed. 

We are sensible thou hast obtained a great place in the 
esteem and affection of people of all denominations, over whom 
thou presidest, and many eminent talents being committed to 
thy trust, we much desire they may be fully devoted to the 
Lord's honour and service, that thus thou mayest be an happy 
instrument in his hands, for the suppression of vice, infidelity, 
and irreligion, and every species of oppression on the persons 



236 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

or concerns of men, so that righteousness and peace, which 
truly exalt a nation, may prevail throughout the land, as the 
only solid foundation that can be laid for prosperity and hap- 
piness. 

The free toleration which the citizens of these States enjoy, 
in the public worship of the Almighty agreeably to the dictates 
of their consciences, we esteem among the choicest of bless- 
ings, and we desire to be filled wiih fervent charity for those 
who differ from us in matters of faith and practice ; believing 
that the general assembly of saints is composed of the sincere 
and upright-hearted of all nations, kingdoms, and people, so we 
trust we may justly claim it from others ; — a full persuasion 
that the divine principle we profess, leads into harmony and 
concord, we can take no part in warlike measures on any occa- 
sion or under any power, but we are bound in conscience to 
lead quiet and peaceable lives, in godliness and honesty among 
men, contributing freely our proportion to the indigencies of 
the poor, and to the necessary support of civil government; ac- 
knowledging those that rule well to be worthy of double honour, 
— having never been chargeable from our first establishment as 
a religious Society, with fomenting or countenancing tumult 
or conspiracies, or disrespect to those who are placed in 
authority over us. 

We wish not improperly to intrude on thy time or patience, 
nor is it our practice to offer adulation to any. But as we are 
a people whose principles and conduct have been misrepre- 
sented and traduced, we take the liberty to assure thee, that 
we feel our hearts affectionately drawn towards thee, and those 
in authority over us, with prayers that thy presidency may, 
under the blessing of Heaven, be happy to thyself and to the 
people, that through the increase of morality and true religion, 
Divine Providence may condescend to look down upon our 
land with a propitious eye, and bless the inhabitants with the 
continuance of peace, the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the 
earth, and enable us gratefully to acknowledge His manifold 
mercies. 



CONCLUSION. 237 

And it is our earnest concern that He may be pleased to 
grant thee every necessary qualification to fill thy weighty and 
important station to his glory, and that finally, when all ter- 
restrial honours shall pass away, thou and thy respectable 
consort may be found worthy to receive a crown of unfading 
righteousness, in the mansions of peace and joy for ever. 

Signed in and on behalf of the said meeting, held at Phila- 
delphia, by adjournment, from the 28th of the 9th month to the 
3d of the 10th month inclusive, 1789. 

(Signed) Nicholas Waln, 

Clerk. 



THE ANSWER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE 
ADDRESS OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY CALLED QUAKERS, FROM THEIR 
YEARLY MEETING FOR PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY, DELAWARE, 
AND THE WESTERN PARTS OF MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. 

Gentlemen, — 

I received with pleasure your affectionate address, and thank 
you for the friendly sentiments and good wishes which you 
express for the success of my administration, and for my per- 
sonal happiness. We have reason to rejoice in the prospect, 
that the national government, which, by the power of Divine 
Providence, was formed by the common councils, and peace- 
ably established with the common consent of the people, will 
prove a blessing to every denomination of them ; to render it 
such, my best endeavours shall not be wanting. Government 
being among other purposes, instituted to protect the persons 
and consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the 
duty of rulers not only to abstain from it themselves, but, ac- 
cording to their stations, to prevent it in others. 

The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, of worship- 
ping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only 
among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights. 
While men perform their social duties faithfully, they do all that 



238 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

society or the state can with propriety expect, or demand, and re- 
main responsible only to their Maker for the religion or mode 
of faith which they may prefer or profess. Your principles and 
conduct are well known to me, and it is doing the people called 
Quakers, no more than justice to say that (except their declining 
to share with others in the burthens of common defence) there 
is no denomination among us, who are more exemplary and 
useful citizens. I assure you very especially, that in my opinion, 
the conscientious scruples of all men should be treated with 
great delicacy and tenderness ; and it is my wish and desire, 
that the laws may always be as extensively accommodated to 
them, as a due regard to the protection and essential interest of 
the nation may justify and permit. 

(Signed) George Washington. 



The following " Observations" are deemed too important to 
be placed in the Appendix. Though closely connected with 
the Narrative, they could not from their nature form a part 
of it. 

They offer a clear and candid exposition by the Exiles of 
their sense of the wrongs under which they suffered. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARGES 

CONTAINED IN SEVERAL RESOLVES OF CONGRESS, 

AGAINST THE SOCIETY OF PEOPLE CALLED QUAKERS IN GENERAL, AND 
SOME MEMBERS OF THAT SOCIETY IN PARTICULAR, 

Who, with several of their fellow-citizens, were banished from the city of Phila- 
delphia, and are now confined at the town of Winchester, in Virginia. 

The subscribers, inhabitants of Philadelphia, having been 
imprisoned and sent into banishment to a country where they 
are strangers, in so precipitate a manner that they had not an 
opportunity of defending themselves against the pretended 
offences laid to their charge, think it a duty they owe to them- 
selves and their country, (whose true interests they trust they 
have at heart,) to make some remarks on certain publications 
made by order of Congress, containing reflections on the 
Society of people called Quakers, in general, and intended to 
justify the extraordinary proceedings against them. 

These publications consist of certain resolves of Congress, 
passed between the 28th day of August and the 5th day of 
September, and of eleven papers mentioned in those resolves, 
and published in consequence thereof. 

It appears from the resolve of the 28th day of August, that a 
committee appointed to take into consideration certain papers 
referred to them, reported, " That the several testimonies which 
have been published since the commencement of the present con- 
test between Great Britain and America, and the uniform tenor 
of the conduct and conversation of a number of persons of con- 
siderable wealth, who profess themselves to belong to the Society 
of people commonly called Quakers, render it certain and noto- 
rious that those persons are with much rancour and bitterness 
disaffected to the American cause. " That as those persons will 



240 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

have it in their power, so there is no doubt it will be their in- 
clination to communicate intelligence to the enemy, and in 
various other ways to injure the counsels and arms of America. 
That when the enemy, in the month of December, 1776, were 
bending their progress towards the city of Philadelphia, a cer- 
tain seditious publication addressed, * To our Friends and 
Brethren in religious profession, in these and the adjacent Pro- 
vinces,' signed John Pemberton, in and on behalf of the Meeting 
of Sufferings held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, the 20th day of the 12th month, 1776, was published, 
and as the committee was credibly informed, circulated among 
many members of the Society called Quakers throughout the 
different States. That there is strong reason to apprehend that 
those persons maintain a correspondence and connexion highly 
prejudicial to the public safety not only in this but in the re- 
spective States of America."* 

This we apprehend is the whole of the charge exhibited 
against that Society in general, or us as individuals. In con- 
sequence of which, resolves were formed to recommend to 
the Council of Pennsylvania to apprehend and secure eleven 
persons by name, and all others who had in their general con- 
duct and conversation evidenced a disposition inimical to "the 
cause of America," and " that the records and papers of the 
Meetings of Sufferings in the several States, be forthwith 

CO ' 

secured and carefully examined, and that such parts of them 
as might be of a political nature be forthwith transmitted to 
Congress." 

As we have heretofore given the public an account of the 
arbitrary manner in which the Council executed these recom- 
mendations of Congress, and refused to hear us in our defence, 
it will be unnecessary here to repeat it ; w T e shall therefore pro- 
ceed to examine the charges insinuated against the Society in 
general ; the application of them to us in particular ; and to 
remark on the papers published in support of those charges. 

And first we acknowledge that we are members of the 

* See page 284, of Appendix, for a copy of this Address. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 241 

Society of people called Quakers, which can be no cause of 
offence, inasmuch as our religious principles have been known 
and tolerated for a century in every part of the w 7 orld where 
any of us have lived ; and if some of that Society are possessed 
of considerable wealth, yet we cannot see why that should be 
made a part of the accusation against them, unless it were 
shown that it was dishonestly acquired or improperly applied ; 
that we are disaffected to the true interests of America, so far 
as we are capable of judging of them, we positively deny ; and 
rancour and bitterness are so opposite to the precepts and 
doctrines of the Gospel, in which we believe, that to be actuated 
thereby, would render us inconsistent with ourselves, and deprive 
us of that character which our general conduct has obtained, 
nor can it be reconciled to common sense, that natives of Ame- 
rica, whose parents, wives, children, friends, and connexions, 
and whose estates are here, should be inimical to a country in 
whose prosperity their happiness depends. 

The several testimonies published by the representatives of 
our Society do declare the principles we profess with respect 
to war ; but we deny that they can be justly construed into 
disaffection to the interests of America, as will clearly appear 
when we have remarked on them. The uniform tenor of our 
conduct and conversation we trust, has been so peaceable and 
inoffensive, that had it been known to the Congress, it would 
have been so far from affording grounds for persecution, that 
it would have amounted to a justification against the insinua- 
tions our enemies have suggested. 

We believe this is the first instance in history where men have 
been apprehended and condemned upon so general a charge as 
the tenor of their conduct and conversation, when there was so 
little intercourse between the judges and the parties, that they 
could form no judgment but from the reports of others ; such 
was the case with us that none of the delegates in Congress 
could determine what they had against us of their own know- 
ledge, but must have procured whatever information they had 
from our enemies. 

16 



242 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

If the accusation originated with themselves, they as accusers 
ought not at the same time to have been our judges — and if they 
were not our accusers, as judges they ought to have stated 
some particular offence, and confronted us with the witnesses 
to support the charge. A criminal committed after a fair trial 
by a jury of his country is always asked, what he has to say 
why sentence should not be passed upon him, in pursuance of 
the verdict? We were condemned and sentenced to banish- 
ment, before we even knew that we were accused ; and that, not 
for any crime, but for the tenor of our conduct and conversa- 
tion ; such a mode of administering justice is sufficient to alarm 
every freeman in America, for no man can be safe while those 
in power will listen to the whispered accusation of a concealed 
enemy, resolve that the party is guilty, and refuse to hear his 
defence, 

The charge of having it in our power to communicate intel- 
ligence to the enemy, may with equal justice be made against 
every member of Congress, but it is a new species of reasoning 
to infer from thence that it would be their, or our inclination so 
to do ; for we well know the consequence of a discovery, and 
it might as well be inferred, that because we had it in our 
power, so we were inclined to destroy ourselves. 

But besides that security which the laws have provided to 
prevent such communication, we are bound by a more solemn 
tie than any human law T s can make ; for, as we have heretofore 
declared in a paper addressed to the President and Council of 
Pennsylvania, " Although at the time many of our forefathers 
were convinced of the truth which we, their descendants now 
profess, great fluctuations and various changes and turnings 
happened in government, and they were greatly vilified and 
persecuted for a firm and steady adherence to their peaceable 
and inoffensive principles, yet they were preserved from any 
thing tending to promote insurrections, conspiracies, or the 
shedding of blood ; and during the troubles, which by permis- 
sion of Divine Providence have latterly prevailed, we have 
steadily maintained our religious principles in these respects, 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 243 

and have not held any correspondence with the contending 
parties as is unjustly insinuated, but are withheld and restrained 
from being concerned in such matters by that divine 'principle 
of grace and truth which we profess to be our guide and rule 
through life ; this is of more force and obligation than all the 
tests and declarations devised by men." 

If even such an inclination had appeared, (which we firmly 
and utterly deny,) we apprehend no system of law hitherto es- 
tablished ever gave cognizance over the inclinations of the 
subject, unless we recur to the Popish Inquisition, where we 
acknowledge precedents for the proceedings against us may 
be found ; and before we leave this subject, it may not be im- 
proper to answer an objection of the President and Council, 
which, though no part of the original charge, appears among the 
resolves of Congress now under consideration. They assert 
that " few of the Quakers among these, are willing to make any 
promise of any kind." This we declare is not a true state of 
the fact, for we were taken up and confined for refusing to enter 
into an engagement, conceived in such terms as implied an ac- 
knowledgment of guilt in the article of giving intelligence to the 
commander of the British forces," and we would have sur- 
rendered our right to be heard in our defence, had we been weak 
enough to have submitted to this for the sake of a short and un- 
certain respite from banishment; we should have given some 
colour of probability to the suspicions they entertained, and 
drawn a blemish on ourselves which our conduct never merited. 

With respect to the charge of " a seditious publication," 
dated the 20th of the 12th month, 1776, we cannot but express 
our surprise that any thing contained in the epistle from the 
Meeting for Sufferings, of that date, could be so misunderstood 
or perverted as to be styled seditious ; we shall, however, for- 
bear remarking further on it until it comes in the order of pub- 
lication, to be considered as a part of the proof against us. 

To the last part of the charge we say, that if after the ex- 
ample of the primitive churches to maintain a correspondence 
with our brethren in religious fellowship; to communicate and 



244 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

receive a state of the society ; to encourage one another in a 
steadfast and upright walking in the pure principles of the 
Gospel, and preserve the uniform practice of the precepts of 
our holy Redeemer in the members of the Society wherever 
they are dispersed — if this is highly prejudicial to the public 
safety, then indeed is our Society culpable ; for from our first 
appearance as a people upwards of a century ago, such a cor- 
respondence and connexion has always been maintained and 
preserved among us, nor has it ever been interrupted or con- 
sidered as prejudicial by any government under which we have 
lived till the present instance. And to deny us this right of 
admonishing our members to keep to their religious principles, 
and to avoid every thing which has a tendency to lead them 
astray, would be to deprive us of the benefit of that toleration 
which our ancestors obtained through many severe trials and 
persecutions, and which they purchased as their inheritance in 
this country at the dear rate of leaving their native land, to 
encounter the hardships and perils of settling a wilderness at 
their own expense, and which was after some time confirmed 
to them in every part of the British empire. This toleration 
our Society has never abused, and we dare challenge our ad- 
versaries to prove a single instance where any of our meetings 
have been, or now are perverted to any thing prejudicial to 
the public safety. 

From the whole of this charge, and the manner in which 
we have been treated under pretence of its being applicable to 
us, it seems rather intended to pave the way for depriving our 
religious Society of the enjoyment of toleration, than an accu- 
sation against a few individuals ; to be more pointed at the 
peaceable principles we profess and wish to put in practice, 
than at any personal behaviour in this time of calamity; and 
to be a revival of that cruel persecution which raged with 
much rancour and bitterness in New England, about the middle 
of the last century, against the members of our Society, rather 
than a prosecution of offenders against the public good. 

Having made a few observations on the charge, we shall 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 245 

now proceed to examine the evidence accompanying it ; and we 
trust it will be found insufficient to prove any offence against the 
Society in general, or us in particular. But before we proceed, it 
is worthy of notice, that in order to fix the work of a printer upon 
the Society, the publishers have transposed the papers out of the 
order of time in which they were originally given forth. The 
epistle dated the 5th day of the 1st month, 1775, was published 
without its knowledge, in a New York paper, with a preface 
affixed by the printer, and with a design to make the sentiments 
therein expressed, appear as a work of the Society ; the testi- 
mony dated the 24th day of the same month is first inserted, and 
the epistle of a prior date, with that preface, follows. By thus 
artfully introducing it between two of their papers, the unw r ary 
are induced to believe it was a performance of the Society. 
We just hint at this matter to show what unfair means are 
used to excite unjust prejudices ; and now return to the papers. 
The subject-matter of the first three are a declaration of our 
Christian principles, and an earnest exhortation to the members 
of our Society to avoid entering into any measures then carry- 
ing on for obtaining a redress of grievances, tending to lead 
them into warlike preparations, which are so opposite to the 
basis on which our religious system is founded, that the one 
cannot exist with the other. To persons who are acquainted 
with us, and our testimony against all wars and fightings, this 
cannot appear strange ; nor will any, when they are informed 
that we have invariably professed these principles to the world 
for more than a century, be surprised that the representatives 
of our Society should endeavour to caution our members 
against a conduct inconsistent with their profession ; and al- 
though these papers are calculated to discourage the unwary 
from being led into such inconsistencies, yet there is no sen- 
tence in them that could justly give offence to other Christian 
professors, who are not united with us in this respect. The 
clauses distinguished by italic characters, are far exceeded in 
expressions of attachment to the king and constitution of Great 
Britain by what the Congress themselves have declared in 



246 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

divers of their publications, even of later date than some of 
these, some instances of which we here subjoin. 

DECLARATION OF CONGRESS TO THE PEOPLE, DATED JULY 6TH, 1775. 

" Our forefathers, inhabitants of Great Britain, left their 
native land to seek on these shores a residence for civil and 
religious freedom, at the expense of their blood, at the hazard 
of their fortunes, without the least charge to the country from 
whence they removed. 

" Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our 
friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure 
them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long 
and so happily subsisted between us, and which ice sincerely 
wish to see restored." 

ADDRESS OF CONGRESS TO THE KING, JULY 8tH, 1775. 

" Attached to your Majesty's person, family, and govern- 
ment, with all the devotion that principle and affection can in- 
spire, connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that 
can unite societies, and deploring every event that tends in any 
degree to weaken them, we solemnly assure your Majesty that 
we not only most ardently desire the former harmony between 
her and these Colonies may be restored, but that a concord 
may be established between them upon so firm a basis as to 
perpetuate its blessings uninterrupted by any future dissensions, 
to succeeding generations in both countries, and to transmit 
your Majesty's name to posterity adorned with that signal and 
lasting glory that hath attended the memory of those illustrious 
personages whose virtues and abilities have extricated states 
from dangerous convulsions, and by securing happiness to 
others, have erected the most noble and durable monuments to 
their own fame." 

From these quotations it is evident, that if the professions of 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 247 

attachment to the British government contained in the papers 
in question were criminal, the Congress were not less guilty 
than the authors of the papers. 

The fourth paper is that styled in the minutes of Congress a 
seditious publication, and upon a careful revisal of it, we think 
it strange that men of common sense should so far misunder- 
stand it as to give it that epithet. It begins with an affectionate 
salutation "To our friends and brethren in religious profession," 
to whom only it is directed, and exhorts them to a reliance on 
Him who has promised to be with his faithful followers always 
even to the end of the world ; it cites a text from the New 
Testament, encouraging them to bear with patience the suffer- 
ings they may have to undergo ; it recites a passage of an 
epistle from our ancient friend George Fox, dated in the year 
1685, reminding them " that by keeping in the Lord's power, 
and peaceable truth, which is over all, and therein seeking the 
good of all, neither outward sufferings, persecutions nor any 
outward thing, which is below, will hinder or break their 
heavenly fellowship in the light and spirit of Christ," from 
whence it infers " that we may with Christian firmness and 
fortitude withstand and refuse to submit to the arbitrary injunc- 
tions and ordinances of men, who assume to themselves the 
power of compelling others, either in person or by assistance, 
to join in carrying on war, and of prescribing modes of de- 
termining concerning our religious principles, by imposing 
tests not warranted by the precepts of Christ, or the laws of 
that happy Constitution under which we and others long en- 
joyed tranquillity and peace ; the remaining three paragraphs 
contain nothing but general though earnest exhortations to our 
members, to adhere to the principles they profess ; nor have 
the publishers thought proper to distinguish any part of them 
as obnoxious. Let us then examine if the former parts have 
any tincture of sedition in them. And we have no doubt but 
a statement of a few facts, well known at that time in Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, will be sufficient to explain and show 
the expediency of them. 



248 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

About the time this epistle was sent forth, some instances 
happened of persons of our Society being seized when on their 
lawful business, without even the colour of law to authorize it, 
and confined, for refusing to bear arms or find substitutes in 
their room ; and from others, tests not warranted by any laiv, 
were attempted to be extorted by military officers. These 
arbitrary proceedings led the meeting to consider that the 
youth and the unwary might be intimidated into a departure 
from those principles in which they had been educated, and 
which they professed. To prevent which they thought it their 
duty to give forth their brotherly caution and advice ; nor can 
any who are willing to allow liberty of conscience to the 
Society, condemn them. It should here be observed, that all 
these papers were printed and openly dispersed among our 
members, and some of them were sent to the members of Con- 
gress then in Philadelphia, before they appeared abroad. Had 
they contained any thing seditious or unwarrantable, why was 
not a disapprobation of them then expressed ? Why was the 
censure of them deferred until near nine months after the date 
of the last of them ? But when the subject of this epistle is 
duly considered, it must evidently appear to be intended to dis- 
courage the members of our Society from bearing arms in all 
cases whatsoever. How then can men professing candour 
apply it to any particular case, and interpret it as a seditious 
publication, evidencing that the authors were with much rancour 
and bitterness disaffected to the cause of America ? 

"The happy Constitution under which we and others have 
long enjoyed tranquillity and peace," are words which, we un- 
derstand, have given offence to some of those who have been 
engaged in forming a new one ; they have thought it derogatory 
to their skill as legislators, that a work which they had rejected, 
should be spoken of with so much respect. But we who have 
known the happiness enjoyed in Pennsylvania under the mild 
administration of so wholesome a form of government, cannot 
but express our regret that it was so little esteemed as to be 
wholly set at nought. It was formed by a man, who as a 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 249 

worthy ancient of our Society, and a wise legislator, stands 
as high in the page of history as any of his cotemporaries ; 
in framing it, he consulted with a number of our ancestors 
who held the same noble principles with himself, and adapted 
it so wisely to the purposes of a free government, that the 
learned Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws, bears this testimony 
in favour of him and his work : # " A character so extra- 
ordinary in the institutions of Greece, has shown itself lately 
in the dregs and corruptions of modern times. A very honest 
legislator has formed a people to whom probity seems as 
natural as bravery to the Spartans. William Penn is a real 
Lycurgus ; and though the former made peace his principal 
aim, as the latter did war, yet they resemble one another in the 
singular way of living to which they reduced their people ; in 
the ascendency they had over freemen ; in the prejudices which 
they overcame ; and in the passions which they subdued." 

The experience of near an hundred years has evinced the 
truth of this learned man's observation ; and it was but a just 
tribute to the memory of the honourable founder, to notice 
the happiness enjoyed under the " generous plan of liberty" 
handed down from him. And when it is considered that under 
his constitution, no superiority was allowed to one religious 
society over another, but all were put on the footing of brethren 
entitled to an equal share of that liberty which is the gift of 
Heaven — that no persecution was ever waged by any persons 
exercising power under it, and that as soon as it was over- 
turned and a new form introduced, a spirit of persecution was 
raised, that threatened our Society, the descendants of the first 
settlers, with the loss of their religious liberty, which their 
ancestors had purchased at so dear a rate, — and that 
actually began to hold cognizance over our consciences, 
— it cannot, therefore, be matter of wonder that such expres- 
sions were used in the epistle referred to ; and we believe a 
great majority of the people of Pennsylvania concur in our 
opinion. 

* Vol. i. page 51. 



250 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



Upon the whole, this epistle is couched in terms so full of 
Christian charity, that we cannot, as we before observed, but 
be surprised that such invidious reflections should be cast upon 
it. We have been the longer in our observations on this paper, 
because it has been the pretext for much calumny and abuse 
of the Society. 

Although this epistle was never inserted in any of the public 
papers with the privity of the meeting, yet illiberal censures 
have been cast upon it for republishing it, and it has been 
represented to be done with a view " to discourage the militia of 
Pennsylvania from marching at a time of danger." This is 
another instance of the uncandid construction put upon the 
acts of the Society. 

The Assembly of Pennsylvania prepared a bill last spring, 
to compel all persons under particular circumstances to sub- 
scribe a test, and published it for the consideration of the 
people at large ; this, together with the reasons that subsisted 
at the time of first issuing the epistle, was thought a sufficient 
cause for reviving it, by directing it to be again read in some 
of our religious meetings: whatever other publication of it ivas 
made, was not with the concurrence of the Society ; and indeed 
if such revisal was in reality so improper at that time, how 
is it to be accounted for, that it should again be published by 
authority of Congress, who now so freely condemn it, at a time 
much more critical than either of the former — namely, at the 
late approach of the British army to Philadelphia? But men 
are often insensible of absurdities when they occur in a favour- 
ite pursuit ! 

We come now to the minutes of the several monthly and 
quarterly meetings, which were illegally forced out of the hands 
of the clerks, by virtue of a general warrant, with a design to 
furnish evidence against us. But whatever effect might have 
been expected from them, they will be found wholly void of 
offence. And here it may be proper for the information of 
such as are unacquainted with our method of transacting 
business, to observe, that at the time our ancestors sepa- 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 251 

rated themselves from other religious societies, and formed 
themselves into a body, divers laws subsisted, with which they 
conceived it their religious duty not actively to comply; they 
were of course subjected to forfeitures and penalties which, by 
the defect of the laws in not guarding against the malice of 
their persecutors in making excessive distresses, were so heavy 
upon many, as to impoverish and ruin them. It became the 
concern of their brethren to relieve and assist such as well by 
counsel as by supplying their necessary wants ; for this pur- 
pose a committee of the Society was appointed by the name of 
the Meeting for Sufferings, which has been continually kept up 
in London for Great Britain, Ireland, &c. 

To this meeting the inferior meetings send an account of all the 
sufferings in support of our testimony, from time to time. When 
our forefathers settled in America, they established, as occasion 
required, the same Christian discipline for the well ordering of 
the affairs of the Society, as had been used and approved in 
England ; and among others a Meeting for Sufferings was 
appointed, and has been kept up for many years at Philadelphia, 
for Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; and in the course of their 
proceedings, the minutes now published were sent from the 
several monthly to the quarterly meetings, in order to be by them 
forwarded to the Meeting for Sufferings, that through it the 
Yearly Meeting might be informed of the state of the Society, 
and of the trespass upon the sufferers. Nor is this new among 
us, or calculated for the present occasion, but the constant, 
uniform practice of our Society. As to the matter of those 
minutes — it is a plain narrative of facts, incontestably true, and 
notorious in the places where they happened. Nor is the 
manner of them exceptionable, as all the expressions are true 
in themselves, and descriptive of the several matters alluded to. 

We are now to take notice of the papers said to be found 
among the prisoners' baggage on Staten Island ; and we re- 
gret that our justification requires us to use language, which 
in other circumstances we would wish to avoid. We do, 
however, with a firm confidence undertake to say, that so 



252 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

much of those papers as imports that the intelligence there 
mentioned was given from a meeting of our Society, is a direct 
falsehood and forgery ; and although we have never yet seen 
the original papers, nor heard of the circumstances attending 
the finding of them, so as to enable us to search for proof in 
vindication of our brethren in that part of the country, or to 
discover the marks of deceit which generally accompany 
counterfeits, yet we trust sufficient evidence appears upon the 
face of the publication to warrant our assertion. 

General Sullivan, in his letter to Congress, dated Hanover, 
25th August, 1777, speaks of "one from the Yearly Meeting of 
Spanktown," but whether it was intended that the whole of 
what follows should be considered in that light, or only those 
six lines entitled " Intelligence from Jersey, 19th August, 
1777," and subscribed, " Spanktown Yearly Meeting," we 
cannot determine ; but will show that no part is chargeable on 
any of our members; and in order to arrive at the greater 
precision, we shall speak of the three articles separately. 

The first consists of eight questions, which at first view are 
found to be such as must come from persons seeking intelli- 
gence, and not from those who were to give it. We may 
therefore safely conclude that this was not the work of any of 
our members, but merely a set of instructions to the officers of 
the British army, to direct their inquiries in case they should 
meet with persons capable of giving information. 

The second is the paper said to come from Spanktown 
Yearly Meeting ; and indeed it is unfavourable for the contriver 
of this piece of business, that he had not obtained better in- 
formation concerning our meetings in those parts, and attended 
a little more to the dates of events ; and it is happy for us, de- 
prived as we are of all opportunity of clearing up the matter 
by other evidence, that he has put into his composition several 
things which wholly destroy its credit 

And first, it is highly improbable that any body of people 
would subscribe a paper containing intelligence which, if de- 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 253 

fected, would endanger their lives. Persons concerned in such 
dangerous transactions always avoid describing themselves in 
such a manner as to be known to the opposite party, in case 
their correspondence should be intercepted ; and the members 
of any meeting must be supposed to be idiots before such con- 
duct could be believed of them. Besides, the constant practice 
of all our meetings every where, is that no paper issues from 
them without the signature of the clerk, or some other persons 
in their behalf, as all the genuine papers published by order of 
Congress, show. 

Secondly. — There is not, and never has been, a yearly meet- 
ing of our Society held at Spanktown, as the inventor of this 
affair might have known had he made the least inquiry. It is 
true that a quarterly meeting is held at Rahway, part of which 
place, we understand, is known by the nickname of Spank- 
town, but never so called in any of our proceedings. The 
paper published immediately before the extract of General Sul- 
livan's letter, shows the manner in which that meeting is styled 
by the Society, to wit, " our quarterly meeting, held in Rah- 
way." This meeting was held and finished on the 18th day of 
that month, and we are assured by one of our company now 
confined at Winchester, who attended it, at every sitting from 
beginning to end, that no paper, or intelligence of any public 
nature, kind, or tendency whatsoever, was made therein. 

But lastly, the author of this counterfeited paper, besides his 
want of knowledge of the meetings, the times at which they 
are held, and the names by which they are called, has been 
guilty of an oversight in the date of his intelligence, equally 
fatal to the credibility of his work. He makes his newly-con- 
stituted Yearly Meeting at Spanktown say, " It is said General 
Howe landed near the head of Chesapeake Bay, but cannot 
learn the particular spot, nor when." He dates this the 19th 
day of August. From the public papers we find that the fleet 
containing General Howe's army was on that day, at or near 
the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and that it did not arrive at 



254 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Turkey Point, near the head of it, till the 22d, of which the 
earliest intelligence was brought to Philadelphia on the 23d, 
and might have reached Spanktown and Hanover on the 24th 
or 25th ; before which time the paper in question could not 
have received its present form. How then can it be true that 
it w T as framed at Spanktown on the 19th, as itself imports, or 
that it was found on Staten Island on the 22d, as General Sul- 
livan has asserted! ! 

We submit these facts to the consideration of the public, not 
doubting but they will acquit our Society of being the authors 
of it, whatever opinions they may entertain of any others. 

The third article is a letter dated Sunday, July 28th, 1777; 
but as it is not even insinuated to be written by any of our 
members, and carries in its date a style not used by our 
Society, it is unnecessary to observe further upon it, than that 
although it is of a much earlier date than the preceding one, 
it is here transposed (as was done in a former instance), in 
order that it might pass with the unthinking for a work of the 
pretended Spanktown Yearly Meeting. 

These observations, we think, are sufficient to show that 
nothing contained in our " several testimonies" supports the 
charge exhibited against our Society ; but on the contrary, 
that the welfare of mankind, and extending the glad tidings of 
peace on earth, and good will to men, was the only aim of the 
authors of those papers. And with respect to our conduct and 
conversation, we need say no more than that our characters 
have been such as to be proof against the general calumny of 
any body of people whatever, and will remain so until evidence 
supplies the place of assertion. 

Before we conclude, it will be proper to observe upon another 
circumstance, which fully shows that our persecutors were 
satisfied of our innocence before they executed their unjust 
sentence upon us, although they had not the candour to ac- 
knowledge their error by doing us justice. 

It appears by the resolves of the Congress and Council, 
dated the 5th of September, that both those bodies, after all 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 255 

the fears and jealousies they had expressed, were willing to 
enlarge us, if we would have " sworn or affirmed allegiance 
to the State of Pennsylvania." This was a direct relinquish- 
ment of all the charges exhibited against us, and from that 
moment we stood in no other point of view than offenders 
against the Act of Assembly commonly called the Test Law ; 
if by that law we were not compellable to subscribe the test, 
then have the Council punished us without any other authority 
than their own arbitrary will, and they might with equal jus- 
tice have apprehended and sent from their families, every in- 
habitant who had declined taking it. 

As we declined accepting our liberty on those terms, it may 
not be improper to consider the nature of tests in general, and 
show that our refusal to take those offered to us, was not a 
breach of the law, nor punishable in any manner whatever. 

That no government ever derived stability from tests im- 
posed on the people at large, is a fact notorious to every person 
conversant in history. If the constitution and the administra- 
tion of justice be such, that the inhabitants derive the blessings 
of liberty from it, their common interest in supporting it, forms 
the surest obligation ; if it be otherwise, men of ambition who 
have interested views, by oppressing the people, are the only 
persons who would propose to continue it by enforcing them 
under the dread of perjury, to submit to arbitrary laws. 

Designing men have never failed to cloak their ambition 
under specious appearances ; they are ingenious at forming 
plausible pretexts for withdrawing their allegiance from the 
sovereign or state to whom they have sworn it, nor can an in- 
stance be found of oaths preventing a revolution. The alle- 
giance sworn by the Long Parliament to Charles the First, did 
not hinder them from bringing him to the scaffold — nor the 
tests taken by General Monk and his army to the Common- 
wealth of England, prevent them from restoring Charles the 
Second to the crown. — They are in fact nothing more than an 
engine to oppress the more virtuous part of the people. Wit- 
ness the use made of them during the days of Cromwell, and 



256 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

for some years after the Restoration. Many of the peaceable 
conscientious inhabitants were grievously persecuted for re- 
fusing them, while those, to check whom they were principally 
intended, took them and observed them no longer than it suited 
their views. During that unhappy contest we find abundant 
reason to reject the use of tests. The same persons for the 
sake of the places they held or coveted to hold, were induced 
to swear and recant many direct contradictions in the course 
of a few years, to the great dishonour of religion, and the 
weakening the force of every moral obligation. 

Every conscientious man when he submits to the solemnity 
of an oath or affirmation, means to perform it in the fullest 
sense ; but how can any man who takes a test to either of the 
contending parties, be sure in the present unsettled state of 
affairs, that he can hold his integrity a single week? The face 
of things may in a few days be changed, and by the events of 
war he may fall into the hands of the opposite party, and be 
tempted for the safety of his property, his life, or his family, to 
do some act in violation of his solemn engagement to the great 
injury of his conscience ; nor will the common excuse of force 
serve him in the hour of reflection as a palliation, for the mind 
not being subject to compulsion receives a lasting wound 
wherever it assents to any evil for the ease of the body. 

Nor is it a practice among nations at war, to compel the 
peaceable inhabitants of an invaded country to swear fidelity 
until by the ratification of peace it is confirmed to the con- 
queror ; and if there be some instances to the contrary, they 
have been condemned by all writers of liberal sentiments. 

If it be objected that in times of difficulty it is necessary to 
bind suspected persons by an oath or affirmation of fidelity, we 
answer that some cause of suspicion should be proved against 
a man before he is publicly stigmatized, and if upon a hearing 
he cannot clear up the suspicions, it is then time enough to call 
for surety for his good behaviour. 

These observations, we hope, will be sufficient to convince 
the candid that general tests are inconsistent with true liberty, 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE RESOLVES OF CONGRESS. 257 

unnecessary in the present situation of America, and subversive 
of the morality of the inhabitants. 

But if in any circumstances it be necessary for the Legisla- 
ture to enact a general test law, such test can never authorize 
(he executive powers to inflict heavy punishments on those 
who have never committed any breach of it. 

The power of the Council of Pennsylvania in a business of 
this nature, is nothing more than that of justices of the peace, 
which is given to them as counsellors by the Declaration of 
Rights. This power could neither be enlarged nor abridged by 
the recommendations of Congress. We must therefore con- 
sider the Council as acting in that capacity. And a bare 
perusal of the test law is sufficient to show that no justice had 
power to tender it to men who quietly stayed in the county 
where they usually resided ; and as none of us were found be- 
yond the limits prescribed, we never could be considered as 
liable to the penalties of refusing it ; and even if we were, the 
measure of the punishment has been exceeded an hundred fold. 
With what face then can any set of men pretend to assert the 
cause of liberty who are found in so flagrant a violation of its 
most essential parts? What security can the inhabitants of 
Pennsylvania have for the enjoyment of their unalienable rights 
under governors who have thus publicly substituted their own 
arbitrary will in the place of their own positive law. 

Thus, we apprehend, we have fully answered and refuted every 
charge and suspicion that has been published against us, and 
have shown that the proceedings of the Council of Pennsylvania 
founded upon the recommendation of the Congress, have been 
a violent exertion of power against right. And we cannot but 
be sorry that the Congress should have given rise to such a 
course of conduct, and in the progress of it, have counte- 
nanced it. 

They listened to insinuations without any just ground, the 
authors of which were concealed — they censured a whole 
religious Society with which they were very little acquainted — 
they condemned a number of innocent individuals of that 

17 



258 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Society upon the general charge of their conduct and conver- 
sation, without hearing them in their defence — they caused the 
Council to apprehend them and many others, and consented to 
their banishment to a distant country before any legal convic- 
tion — and published to the world the groundless suspicions and 
falsehoods by which themselves had been misled, in order to 
excite prejudices against others. 

When a number of us whom they had accused and con- 
demned, applied to Congress for a hearing, they left it to the 
option of the Council to grant it or not at their pleasure, and 
recommended such a hearing as is not known in any free 
country, to wit, to hear what we could allege to " remove their 
suspicions ;" thus instead of a fixed charge being supported 
against us, the burthen of proving negatives was to be thrown 
upon us. And when the Council refused even such a hearing, 
Congress, who profess to be the guardians of American freedom, 
suffered the Council to send us away from our families at a 
time when the noise of armies engaged in battle approaching 
the city, was heard within the walls of our habitations, when 
our tender wives and helpless children required a double por- 
tion of care and attention from us. 

Had we been allowed to defend ourselves before an impartial 
tribunal, as every man who boasts the rank of a freeman is 
entitled to when his character is called in question, we should 
not now have had occasion to trouble the public with a written 
defence, which we have endeavoured to make as concise as 
the nature of our case would admit ; and we trust that our at- 
tempt to vindicate ourselves as individuals and as a religious 
Society, who have ever been generally reputed useful members 
of the community, will not be unacceptable to those who wish 
to know the truth and judge for themselves. 



APPENDIX 



EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNALS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED 
STATES, IN THE YEARS 1777, 1778 ; AND FROM THE MINUTES OF 
THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF 
PENNSYLVANIA, FROM THE 4tH OF MARCH, 1777, TO THE 28tH OF 
JUNE, 1779 ; INCLUDING THE MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 

(Dunlap's Edition.) 

JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 

Monday, August 25th, 1777. 

Whereas the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware are 
threatened with an immediate invasion from a powerful army, 
who have already landed at the head of Chesapeake Bay ; and 
whereas the principles of policy and self-preservation require 
that all persons who may reasonably be suspected of aiding 
or abetting the cause of the enemy, may be prevented from 
pursuing measures injurious to the general weal : 

Resolved, That the executive authorities of the States of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, be requested to cause all persons 
within their respective states, notoriously disaffected, forthwith 
to be apprehended, disarmed, and secured, till such time as the 
respective states think they may be released without injury to 
the common cause. 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the Supreme Execu- 
tive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, to cause a diligent 
search to be made in the houses of all the inhabitants of the 
city of Philadelphia, who have not manifested their attach- 
ment to the American cause, for firearms, swords and bayonets ; 



260 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

that the owners of the arms so found be paid for them at an 
appraised value, and that they be delivered to such of the 
militia of the State of Pennsylvania who are at present un- 
armed and have been called into the field. 



MINUTES OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Wednesday, August 27th, 1777. 

Present, His Excellency, Thomas Wharton, Esq., President, 
Honourable George Bryan, Vice-President, John Baily, Esq., 
Jonathan Hodge, Esq., and John Proctor, Esq. 

(N.B. The members not in attendance were John Hart, 
Jacob Morgan, John Hambright, Thomas Urie, Thomas Scott, 
James Edgar, John Evans, in all twelve members.) 

Timothy Matlack, 

Secretary. 

The Congress by a resolve of yesterday, founded on evident 
necessity, and sound policy, 

Resolved, That the colonel or commanding officer of each 
regiment of the city militia, do appoint one or more officers, 
and a sufficient number of men in each ward, who shall search 
the houses of all such of the inhabitants of the city of Phila- 
delphia, who have not manifested their attachment to the 
American cause, for firearms, &c. 

And another resolve of Congress, of the same date, " re- 
questing this state to cause all persons within the same, noto- 
riously disaffected, forthwith to be apprehended, disarmed, and 
secured, till such time as the state shall think they may be re- 
leased without injury to the common cause," the same was re- 
ferred to further consideration. 



APPENDIX. 261 



CONGRESS. 



Thursday, August 28, 1777. 

A letter of the 25th, from General Sullivan, at Hanover, with 
several papers enclosed, also another from him without date, 
were read.* 

Ordered, That the letter of the 25th, with the papers enclosed, 
be referred to a committee of three. The members chosen, 
Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Duer, and Mr. R. H. Lee. 

The committee to whom the letter of General Sullivan, with 
the papers enclosed, was referred, report : 

" That the several testimonies which have been published 
since the commencement of the present contest between Great 
Britain and America, and the uniform tenor of the conduct and 
conversation of a number of persons of considerable wealth, 
who profess themselves to belong to the Society of people com- 
monly called Quakers, render it certain and notorious that those 
persons are with much rancour and bitterness disaffected to the 
American cause. That as these persons will have it in their 
power, so there is no doubt it will be their inclination, to com- 
municate intelligence to the enemy, and in various other ways 
to injure the counsels and arms of America. 

" That when the enemy, in the month of December, 1776, 
were bending their progress towards the city of Philadelphia, 
a certain seditious publication addressed ' To our friends and 
brethren in religious profession in these and the adjacent pro- 
vinces,' signed John Pemberton, in and on behalf of the Meet- 
ing of Sufferings, held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey, the 20th of the 12th month, 1776, was published, 
and as your committee is credibly informed, circulated amongst 
many members of the Society called Quakers through the 
different states. 

" That as the seditious paper aforesaid originated in the city 
of Philadelphia, and as the persons whose names are under 

* See pages 61, 62, 63, ante ; and Appendix, page 299. 



262 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

mentioned have uniformly manifested a disposition highly 
inimical to the cause of America, therefore 

" Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the Supreme 
Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania, forthwith to 
apprehend and secure the persons of Joshua Fisher, Abel James, 
James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Israel Pemberton, John 
Pemberton, John James, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Wharton, 
sen., Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) and Samuel R. Fisher, 
(son of Joshua,) together with all such papers in their possession 
as may be of a political nature. 

" And whereas, there is strong reason to apprehend that these 
persons maintain a correspondence and connexion highly pre- 
judicial to the public safety, not only in this state, but in the 
several states of America, 

" Resolved, That it be recommended to the executive powers 
of the respective states, forthwith to apprehend and secure all 
persons, as well among the people called Quakers as others, 
who have in their general conduct and conversation evidenced 
a disposition inimical to the cause of America ; and that the 
persons so seized be confined in such places and treated in 
such manner as shall be consistent with their respective cha- 
racters and the security of their persons. 

" That the records and papers of the Meetings of Sufferings in 
the respective states, be forthwith secured and carefully ex- 
amined, and that such parts of them as may be of a political 
nature be forthwith transmitted to Congress." 

The said report being read, and the several paragraphs con- 
sidered and debated, and the question put severally thereon, the 
same was agreed to. 



COUNCIL. 



Sunday, August 31, 1777. 



Present, his Excellency Thomas Wharton, Esq., President, 
Hon. George Bryan, Esq., Vice-President, John Baily, Esq., 



APPENDIX. 263 

Jonathan Hodge, Esq., John Proctor, Esq., and Joseph Hart, 
Esq. 

Mr. Rittenhouse, Colonel Bradford, Colonel Delany, and 
Captain Peale, attended in consequence of an invitation from 
Council, and the resolutions of Congress of the 28th inst. were 
communicated to them in confidence, and their assistance asked 
in forming out a list of persons dangerous to the state, who 
ought to be arrested ; and also, in forming a list of gentlemen 
proper to be authorized to arrest such dangerous persons ; and 
the several gentlemen expressed the utmost readiness in com- 
plying with the request of Council, and the following resolution 
was therefore made, viz.: (These resolves are to be seen on 
pages 71, 72, 73, 74, ante.) 

Monday, September 1st. 

[Present as before.] 

Resolved, That the following persons be appointed to carry 
into execution the resolves of yesterday, respecting the arrest- 
ing such persons as are deemed inimical to the cause of 
American liberty, viz. : 

William Bradford, Sharpe Delany, James Claypoole, William 
Heysham, John Purviance, Joseph Blewer, Paul Cox, Adam 
Kimmel, William Graham, William Hardy, Charles W. Peale, 
Captain M'Culloch, Nathaniel Downel, Robert Smith, William 
Carsan, Lazarus Pine, Captain Birney, John Downey, John 
Galloway, William Thorpe, John Lisle, James Loughead, 
James Cannon, James Carr, Thomas Bradford, together with 
such other persons as they shall call to their assistance. 

Note. — That the foregoing resolution (with those before re- 
lating to this business), was signed by the Honourable George 
Bryan, Esq., Vice-President. 

Resolved, That Colonel Nicola, the town major, do furnish 
Colonel Bradford, on application, with a detachment of the City 
Guards. 



264 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

September 2d. 

Colonel Bradford, Paul Cox, and Captain Blewer, informed 
the Council, that among a number of other persons mentioned 
in the warrant of Council of the 31st ult., Alexander Stedman, 
Charles Stedman, Jr., and David Lenox, were apprehended and 
confined at the Freemasons' Lodge. 

On consideration, ordered, That the said Alexander Stedman, 
Charles Stedman, Jr., and David Lenox, be committed to the 
State prison. 

September 3d. 

The gentlemen appointed and authorized to arrest the per- 
sons hereafter named, made the following report, viz.: "Joshua 
Fisher was ill, that he could not be moved, but gave his verbal 
promise, as far as required by our instructions; no papers on 
public affairs. Abel James, his son being very ill and no papers 
of a public nature, we allowed him to remain on his plantation, 
on his promising (verbally) to appear on demand of the Presi- 
dent, and not in any manner to speak, write, or give any intel- 
ligence to the enemies of the United States of America. *James 
Pemberton, prisoner, no papers found of a public nature. 
*Israel Pemberton, *Henry Drinker, prisoners, a number of 
papers found of a public nature, belonging to the monthhj meet- 
ing. *John Pemberton, prisoner, a number of papers in a 
brown bag. John James, not to be found; being in the country. 
*Samuel Pleasants, Thomas Wharton, Sr., prisoners, no papers. 
Samuel Fisher, (son of Joshua,) prisoner, no papers. Elijah 
Brown, Hugh Roberts, seventy years or upwards; says he has 
never in any manner spoke, or in any way shown himself 
inimical to the liberty and independence of America, since the 
commencement of the disputes ; we have his verbal word, 
agreeably to our instructions, and we are to wait on him at 
two o'clock this afternoon; ice found no papers. # Miers 
Fisher, prisoner, no papers. *George Roberts, his wife very 
big, and otherwise ill ; he has passed his word as above, and 
appears at the same hour with his father; and we beg the 



APPENDIX. 265 

directions of His Excellency and the Council. # Joseph Fox, 
prisoner, some papers. # Samuel Ernlen, Jr., confined to his 
bed ; we broke open his desk, but found no papers of a public 
nature. Adam Kuhn, D. M., produced the certificate of his 
having taken the oath to the United States, 2d June, and is to 
be forthcoming at one o'clock to-day. *Phineas Bond, on 
parole, no papers. ^William Smith, D. D., *Rev. Thomas 
Coombe, prisoner, no papers. *Samuel Shoemaker, has given 
his promise not to go from his house, that he has never had 
any thing to do with the Meetings for Sufferings, and has dis- 
approved of the proceedings signed by Pemberton. 

# Charles Jervis, prisoner, no papers. William Drewet Smith, 
prisoner, no papers. # Pike, (dancing-master,) on parole, no 
papers. *Owen Jones, Jr., prisoner, no papers. *William 
Lenox, Jr., prisoner, had a pocket-book and some papers. 
*Jeremiah Warder, aged and very infirm, having an inflamma- 
tion, has given his verbal parole, agreeably to our instructions; 
we found some papers. *Caleb Emlen, not to be found. *Wil- 
liam Smith, (broker,) prisoner ; his chamber is locked up for 
the inspection of his papers, the key in the possession of Cap- 
tain Smith. # Charles Eddy, prisoner, no papers. *Samuel 
Murdock, on parole, no papers. Alexander Stedman, prisoner. 
Charles Stedman, Jr., prisoner. ^Robert Asheton, (merchant,) 
on parole. William Imlay, prisoner, no papers. *Thomas 
Gilpin, prisoner, no papers. *Samuel Jackson, out of town ; 
no search has been made for papers as yet. *Thomas Affleck, 
prisoner, no papers. 

" N.B. Caleb Emlen, on being arrested, took the oath as 
required by law, and was therefore discharged." 

Colonel Bradford, Colonel Will, Major Keer, and Mr. 
Loughead, reported, that they had arrested Israel Pemberton, 
John Hunt, and Samuel Pleasants, but that they all refused to 
move from the house of the said Pemberton, where they now 
are, unless they were arrested by some civil officer : therefore, 
ordered, That Colonel Nicola, town major, do take a proper 
guard, and seize Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and Samuel 



266 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

Pleasants, and conduct them to the Freemasons' Lodge, and 
there confine them under guard, until further orders : and 
Phineas Bond having, by letter, declared his renunciation of 
the parole he has signed, therefore ordered, That Colonel 
Nicola do also seize and confine him, in like manner, until 
further orders. 



CONGRESS. 

Wednesday, September 3d, 1777. 

A letter of the 2d, from George Bryan, Esq., Vice-President 
of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, was read, 
informing that " In consequence of the recommendation of Con- 
gress, and their own persuasion of the propriety and necessity 
of the measure, the Council have taken up several persons 
inimically disposed towards the American States; that few of 
the Quakers among these are willing to make any promise of 
any kind ; and desiring the advice of Congress, particularly 
ich ether Augusta and Winchester, in Virginia, would not be 
suitable places in which to secure these persons :" whereupon, 

Resolved, That Congress approve of the Quaker prisoners 
being sent to Virginia, and in the opinion of Congress that 
Staunton, in the County of Augusta, is the most proper place in 
Virginia, for their residence, and security ; and with regard to 
the other prisoners mentioned in their letter, Congress leave it 
to the Supreme Executive Council, to do with them as they in 
their wisdom shall think best. 

The Supreme Executive Council having sent to Congress, 
by one of the delegates of their state, sundry original letters 
and papers found in the possession of some of the Quakers 
taken into custody, the same w r ere read. 

Ordered, That they be referred to the committee to whom 
General Sullivan's letter of the 21st of August was referred. 



APPENDIX. 267 

COUNCIL. 

September 4th, 1777. 

Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, and Samuel Pleasants, attended 
by Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Robeson, (attorneys,) and also by 
Samuel Rhoads, Jr., sent in by the Secretary a request to be 
heard by the Council ; to which the Council, by the Secretary, 
answered: that the arrest has been made by order of Congress, 
and that at present the Council decline hearing them ; that the 
Secretary returned and informed Council, that Mr. Pemberton, 
on behalf of himself, Mr. Hunt, and Pleasants, observed, no 
arrest had been made by the town major ; that one of them had 
not seen or been spoken to by him ; that as freemen, they 
claimed the right of being heard in their defence before the 
Council ; that nothing on their part should be said but what was 
decent and proper ; that theirs is a case in which every freeman 
in the State is interested ; and that this right of being heard 
they demanded and insisted on. To which the Council, by the 
Secretary, answered : that the Council has ordered this arrest 
in consequence of a recommendation of Congress, and they do 
not, at present, think proper to hear Mr. Pemberton, Mr. Hunt, 
and Mr. Pleasants. 

A remonstrance from the aforesaid was presented and read. 

Colonel Nicola reports, that he has executed the orders of 
yesterday, and had conducted Israel Pemberton, John Hunt, 
Samuel Pleasants, and Phineas Bond, to the Freemasons' 
Lodge, and secured them under guard. 

Ordered, That the persons now confined in the Freemasons' 
Lodge, be sent to Staunton, in Augusta County, in the State of 
Virginia, agreeable to the resolve of Congress ; there to be 
secured and treated in such manner as shall be consistent with 
their respective characters, and the security of their persons. 

Ordered, That the lieutenants of the respective counties do 
furnish proper guards of militia for prisoners, whether tories 
or others, w r hen application shall be made to them for such 
purposes. 



268 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

September 5th. 

[Present as before], and Jacob Morgan, Esq. 

The President laid before the Council a remonstrance de- 
livered to him last evening, by John Reynell, James Craig, and 
Owen Jones, signed by the gentlemen confined in the Masons' 
Lodge, which was read, and thereupon ordered, That the said 
remonstrance be laid before Congress, and that application be 
made to Congress to know whether they had any objections to 
such of the aforesaid gentlemen as should now take an oath or 
affirmation of allegiance to this State, being enlarged; to which 
Congress return the following resolve, viz. : 

In Congress, September 5th, 1777. 

Resolved, That the Supreme Executive Council be informed 
that the Congress have no objection to the enlargement of such 
persons now confined in the Lodge, as will swear or affirm 
allegiance to this State. 
Extract from the minutes. 

Charles Thomson, 

Secretary. 

Therefore, resolved, That such of the persons now confined 
in the Lodge, as shall take an oath or affirmation of allegiance 
to this State, shall be thereupon discharged. 

Ordered, that the Secretary write to Colonel Bradford, and 
request him to communicate the last-mentioned resolve to the 
gentlemen confined in the Lodge. 

CONGRESS. 

Friday, September 5th, 1777. 

A letter of this day from Thomas Wharton, Jr., President of 
Pennsylvania, was read, informing that the persons detained in 
the Masons' Lodge, have had notice of their going to-morrow 
to Augusta, and desiring an answer, " Whether the removal of 



APPENDIX. 269 

those persons may not be relaxed as to such as would yet swear 
or affirm allegiance to this State;" also including a remon- 
strance to the Council of Pennsylvania, from twenty persons in 
the Lodge :* whereupon, 

Resolved, That the Supreme Executive Council be informed 
that Congress have no objection to the enlargement of such 
persons now confined in the Lodge as will swear or affirm 
to this State. 

A remonstrance from Israel Pemberton, James Pemberton, 
John Pemberton, Thomas Wharton, Henry Drinker, Thomas 
Fisher, Samuel Pleasants, and Samuel R. Fisher, was read :f 

Ordered to lie on the table : 

The committee to whom the papers sent to Congress by the 
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania were referred, 
brought in a report, which was read. 

Ordered, that the consideration thereof be postponed. 

CONGRESS. 

Saturday, September 6, 1777. 

Congress took into consideration the report of the committee 
to whom were referred the papers transmitted by the Supreme 
Executive Council of Pennsylvania ; whereupon 

Ordered, That the papers as reported by the committee, from 
No. 1 to 11, be published. 

Congress took into consideration the remonstrance from 
Israel Pemberton, James Pemberton, John Pemberton, Thomas 
Wharton, Henry Drinker, Thomas Fisher, Samuel Pleasants, 
and Samuel R. Fisher, who were taken into custody upon the 
recommendation of Congress, praying to be heard ; whereupon 

Resolved, That it be recommended to the Supreme Executive 
Council of the State of Pennsylvania to hear what the said re- 
monstrants can allege to remove the suspicions of their being 
disaffected or dangerous to the United States, and act therein as 
the said Council judge most conducive to the public safety. 

* See pages 95 to 99. t See page 103. 



270 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

COUNCIL. 

Saturday, September 6, 1777. 

[Present, as yesterday.] 

A resolve of Congress, of this date, recommending to this 
Council to hear what Israel Pemberton and divers others, 
therein named, can allege to remove the suspicion of their 
being disaffected or dangerous to the United States, being read 
and considered, 

Resolved, That the President do write to the Congress, and 
let them know, that the Council has not time to attend to that 
business, in the present alarming crisis, and that they were, 
agreeably to the recommendation of Congress, at the moment the 
said resoloe was brought into Council, disposing of every thing 
for the departure of the prisoners. 

CONGRESS. 

Monday, September 8, 1777. 

Congress took into consideration the letter of the 6th, from 
the Council of Pennsylvania, wherein they informed, " that at 
the time the resolves of Congress of the 6th came to them, the 
Council were disposing of every thing for the departure of the 
gentlemen confined in the Masons' Lodge; that the hearing of 
some may be censured as a partial proceeding, and therefore 
they wish the same indulgence may be granted to all; that as 
this may be tedious, and, in the midst of the present load of im- 
portant business before Council, of which that of embodying the 
militia is not the least part, they have not leisure to undertake 
it ; that, as much injury will ensue to their commonwealth, if 
Council at present yield any further attention to this matter, 
they therefore earnestly request that Congress may hear and 
dispose of the gentlemen prisoners in the Masons 1 Lodge, and 
also of those who are on promise or parole, in such manner as to 
their wisdom shall seem best, and that for this purpose a list of 
the prisoners is herewith sent ;" whereupon 



APPENDIX. 271 

Resolved, That it would be improper for Congress to enter 
into any hearing of the remonstrants or the other prisoners in 
the Lodge, they being inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; and there- 
fore, as the Council declines giving them a hearing, for the rea- 
sons assigned in their letter to Congress, that it be recom- 
mended to the said Council to order the immediate departure 
of such of the said prisoners as yet refuse to swear or affirm 
allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, to Staunton, in Vir- 
ginia. 

COUNCIL. 

Monday, September 8th. 

[Present, as above.] 

A remonstrance from the people confined in the Masons' 
Lodge* was presented by the Secretary, and read. Thereupon, 
the Secretary was ordered to acquaint Dr. Hutchinson, one of 
the gentlemen who delivered the said remonstrance to him, 
that Council had referred the case to Congress. 

Tuesday, September 9th. 

Colonel William Bradford now attended the Council, and 
reported, that he had on Friday evening last, waited upon the 
prisoners now confined at the Masons' Lodge, and shown them 
the certified copy of the resolve of Congress, relating to them, 
of the 5th inst., and had given them a copy thereof; but that 
the prisoners had given him no reason to expect a compliance 
with the terms proposed them. 

The following resolve of Congress was read, viz. : 

IN CONGRESS. 

September 8th, 1777. 

Resolved, That it would be improper for Congress to enter 
into the hearing of the remonstrants, or other prisoners in the 
Masons' Lodge, they being inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and 
therefore, as the Council decline giving them a hearing, for the 

* See pages 107 to 110. 



272 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

reasons assigned in their letters to Congress, that it be recom- 
mended to said Council, to order the immediate departure of 
such of the said prisoners as yet refuse to swear or affirm alle- 
giance to the State of Pennsylvania, to Staunton in Virginia. 
Extract from the minutes, 

Charles Thomson, 

Secretary. 

On consideration, Resolved, That James Pemberton, Henry 
Drinker, Israel Pemberton, John Pemberton, Samuel Pleasants, 
Thomas Wharton, sen., Thomas Fisher, (son of Joshua,) 
Miers Fisher, Elijah Brown, John Hunt, Phineas Bond, Rev. 
Thomas Coombe, Charles Jervis, William Drewet Smith, Charles 
Eddy, T. Pike, Owen Jones, jun., Edward Pennington, William 
Smith, (broker,) Thomas Gilpin, Thomas Affleck, apprehended 
by Council, as persons who have uniformly manifested, by their 
general conduct and conversation, a disposition highly inimical 
to the cause of .America, imprisoned in the Freemasons' Lodge 
in this city, they refusing to confine themselves to their several 
dwellings, and thereby making the restraint of their persons, in 
another manner, necessary, and having refused to promise to 
refrain from corresponding with the enemy, and also declined 
giving any assurance of allegiance to this state, as of right they 
ought, do hereby renounce all the privileges of citizenship ; and 
that it appears, they consider themselves as subjects of the 
King of Great Britain, the enemy of this and the other United 
States of America, and that they ought to be proceeded with 
accordingly. 

Resolved, That persons of like character, and in emergencies 
equal to the present, when the enemy is at our door, have, in 
the other states, been arrested and secured, upon suspicions 
arising from their general behaviour, and refusal to acknow- 
ledge their allegiance to the state of which they were the proper 
subjects ; and, that such proceedings may be abundantly justi- 
fied by the conduct of the freest nations and the authority of 
the most judicious civilians; therefore, 



APPENDIX. 273 

Resolved, That the persons whose names are mentioned 
above, be, without further delay, removed to Staunton, in Vir- 
ginia. 

September 10th, 1777. 

Colonel Nicola, town-major, representing that he could not 
procure the horses necessary for the guards — 

Ordered, To escort the prisoners from the Masons' Lodge 
towards Reading ; a warrant to impress six horses, with saddles, 
was issued, directed to him. 

An order was drawn on the treasurer, in favour of Mr. 
Alexander Nesbitt and Samuel Caldwell, gentlemen of the 
Light Horse, ordered to escort the prisoners on their way to 
Augusta, for the sum of £100, to pay their expenses, as far as 
the present escort may go, and for which they are to account. 

September 16th. 

[Present, Wharton, Bryan, Bailey, Hart, and Morgan.] 
Mr. Alexander Nesbitt, one of the gentlemen of the Light 
Horse, appointed to escort the prisoners to Winchester, in Vir- 
ginia, reports, That Israel Pemberton, and divers others of 
them, had obtained writs of habeas corpus, ordering Lewis 
Nicola to bring the bodies of the said Israel Pemberton and 
others before him, on the 17th inst., at the place in the writ 
expressed; and the Honourable House of General Assembly 
having this day passed an act, entitled an act, &c. — Ordered, 
That a writ be issued, authorizing and empowering Samuel 
Caldwell and Alexander Nesbitt, to receive the bodies of Israel 
Pemberton, &c, (naming them,) who have been, in conse- 
quence of the recommendation of Congress, arrested and sent 
forward towards Winchester, in Virginia, and them to deliver 
to Jacob Morgan and John Oldt, to be forwarded to the place 
of their destination. 



18 



274 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA, 



CONGRESS. 

Monday, October 13lh, 1777. 

[Sundry letters.] One of the first from John Smith, lieu- 
tenant of Frederick County, Virginia, with sundry papers 
enclosed, was read, also a remonstrance from Israel Pem- 
berton and others, and a memorial from Chevalier Du Portail, 
were read. 

Ordered, That the memorial from Israel Pemberton and 
others, be referred to the Board of War. 

Monday, December 8th, 1777. 

Sundry intercepted letters from Owen Jones, Jr., to sundry 
persons at Lancaster, were laid before Congress. 

Ordered, That they be referred to a committee of three; the 
members chosen, Mr. Ellery, Mr. Duer, and Mr. Harvie. 

Tuesday, December 9th, 1777. 

The committee to whom were referred the intercepted letters 
from Owen Jones, Jr., to sundry persons at Lancaster, brought 
in a report and desired leave to sit again. 

Congress took into consideration the report ; whereupon, 
Resolved, That the letters from Owen Jones, Jr., a prisoner of 
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and confined at Win- 
chester, in Virginia, to sundry persons at Lancaster, be trans- 
mitted by the Board of War to the President of the Supreme 
Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania ; and that it be 
recommended to the executive authority of the said State to 
take such measures in the premises as they in their wisdom 
shall deem meet. 

Ordered, That the committee have leave to sit again. 

Wednesday, December 24th, 1777. 

A memorial from Israel Pemberton and others, to the Con- 
gress and Executive Council of Pennsylvania, was read. 



APPENDIX. 275 



Thursday, January 1st, 1778. 

A memorial to Congress and the Supreme Executive Coun- 
cil of Pennsylvania, from Israel Pemberton and others, also a 
letter from Owen Jones, Jr., to James Duane, Esq., were read. 

Resolved, That the consideration thereof be postponed. 



CONGRESS. 

A petition from Isaac Zane, Joseph Janney, Benjamin Wright, 
William Jackson, John Parrish, and Joseph Wright, was read. 

Ordered, That the petition be referred to a committee of 
three. The members chosen, Mr. Ellery, Mr. Henry, and Mr. 
Clark. 

Wednesday, January 28th, 1778. 

The committee to whom the petition of Isaac Zane and 
others, was referred, reported verbally. 

Ordered, That the consideration of this matter be postponed 
till to-morrow. 

Thursday, January 29th, 1778. 

Congress resumed the consideration of the petition of Isaac 
Zane, &c, whereupon, 

Resolved, That the prisoners now at Winchester, in the 
State of Virginia, who have been apprehended by the govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania, in consequence of the resolution of Con- 
gress of the 28th of August, 1777, be discharged from their 
confinement on their taking and subscribing either the oath or 
affirmation of allegiance, as prescribed by the laws of Penn- 
sylvania, or the following oath or affirmation, at the option of 
the persons confined, viz.: 

" I, A. B., do swear (or affirm), that I acknowledge myself a 
subject of the State of Pennsylvania, as a free and independent 
state, and that I will in all things demean myself as a good and 
faithful subject ought to do." 

Ordered, That the President write to the Governor of Vir- 
ginia, and inform him of this resolution. 



276 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



COUNCIL. 

Lancaster, February 4th, 1778. 

Present, Wharton, Joseph Hart, John Hambright, Thomas 
Urie, Thomas Scott, and James Edgar. 
The following address was read, to wit : 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL, NOW SITTING AT LANCASTER. 

These may show, 

That we, the subscribers, being appointed on behalf of the 
Westerly Quarterly Meeting of the people called Quakers, in 
order to lay before you various deeply distressing cases and 
circumstances, that nearly affect us, as a religious Society, 
request an admittance to be heard by you, for the purpose 
above said ; which favour will be acknowledged by your real 
friends. 

Warren Mifflin, William Jackson, Jr., 

Abraham Gibbons, James Jackson, 

Jos. Husband, Jacob Lindley. 

Lancaster, 23d of 2d month, 1778. 

Ordered, That the subscribers of the said request be informed, 
that the Council are willing to attend to their representation to 
be made in writing, and are disposed to hear them on such 
matters as may be contained therein, so far as is within the 
cognizance of the Council. 

The following representation was read, viz. : 

TO THE PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL, NOW SITTING AT LANCASTER. 

Lancaster, 24th 2d month, 1778. 

We, the subscribers, are desirous to lay before you, 
1st, the case of a number of our friends, now under confine- 
ment at Winchester, in Virginia, by the authority of your 



APPENDIX. 277 

body, as we apprehend, whose release we strongly desire, or if 
that cannot be obtained, that three or more of them, on behalf 
of the rest, may be heard in their own vindication, either 
before Council or Congress, as you may direct. 

2dly, That you would weightily consider the situation of 
four of our friends, closely confined in the common jail of this 
borough. 

3dly, That you would interpose for our relief, in case of 
exorbitant fines, taken from us, because of our conscience sake 
we cannot yield our personal service in war. 

4thly, We desire a redress of grievance in a certain law, 
commonly called the test law. 

[Signed as the above.] 

Whereas Doctor Parke, and one Morton, both of the city of 
Philadelphia, the former son-in-law, and the latter stepson of 
James Pemberton, have presumed to undertake a journey from 
Philadelphia to Winchester, without calling at headquarters, 
or obtaining permission from any lawful authority : 

Resolved, That the Board of War be directed to cause the 
said Parke and Morton to be apprehended and confined in 
prison, till further orders. 

CONGRESS. 

Tuesday, March 10th, 1778. 

A letter of the 7th, from the Executive Council of Pennsyl- 
vania, was read, representing that " the affairs of the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania are so circumstanced as to admit the 
return of the prisoners sent from that State into Virginia, 
without danger to the commonwealth, or to the common cause 
of America. That the dangerous example which their longer 
continuance in banishment may afford on future occasions has 
already given uneasiness to some good friends to the indepen- 
dency of these States," and requesting, " if Congress have no 
other reasons for continuing them in Virginia than the Council 



278 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

are acquainted with, that such orders may be given as shall put 
those people again under the direction and authority of the 
President and Council of their State." 

Monday, March 16th, 1778. 

Resolved, That the Board of War be directed to deliver to 
the order of the President and Council of Pennsylvania, the 
prisoners sent from that State to Virginia. 



COUNCIL. 

April 6th, 1778. 

A letter from his Excellency, General Washington, inclosing 
one from Mrs. Mary Pemberton to him, requesting a protection 
for one or more wagons, and for the persons who may be em- 
ployed to go with them to Winchester, to carry necessaries for 
the prisoners sent there from this state. 

On consideration, ordered, that a protection be granted for 
two wagons and the necessary persons to take care of them, 
and conduct them to this borough, on their way to the said 
prisoners. 

April 8th, 1778. 

The resolve of Congress of 16th March last, " That the 
Board of War be directed to deliver over to the order of the 
President and Council of Pennsylvania, the prisoners sent from 
this state to Virginia," being now read, and the law for the 
further security of the government taken into consideration, as 
far as the same may affect the said prisoners, thereupon ordered, 
that the said prisoners, to wit, Israel Pemberton, (and others 
named,) be brought to Shippensburg, in this State, and there 
enlarged. That they be informed of the law passed for the 
further security of the government, by giving to Mr. Israel 
Pemberton, or some one of the said prisoners, a printed copy 
of the said law, for the inspection of the whole : that Mr. 



APPENDIX. 279 

Francis Y. Baily and Captain Lang, be appointed to apply to the 
Board of War for, and receive from them, an order for the 
delivery of the prisoners sent from this State to Virginia, and 
that the Board of War be requested to give orders for such 
assistance in procuring wagons to bring the prisoners into this 
State, and there set them at liberty ; and that on the journey 
they be treated with the respect due to their characters. 

Ordered, That the lieutenants of the counties through which 
the aforesaid prisoners may pass, do give the necessary assis- 
tance to Mr. Baily and Captain Lang, by furnishing wagons or 
other assistance, which they may stand in need of. 

Ordered, That the whole expense of arresting and confining 
the prisoners sent to Virginia, the expenses of their journey, and 
all other incidental charges, be paid by the said prisoners. 

April 10th. 

An address from the wives and near friends of the prisoners 
in Virginia, was read and considered, to wit: 

Representation of the wives of the prisoners in Virginia, read 
in Council, April 10th, 1778: 

TO THE CONGRESS, BOARD OF WAR, PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL, AND 
ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

We, the afflicted and sorrowful wives, parents, and near 
connexions of the Friends in banishment, at and near Win- 
chester, think ourselves bound by the strongest ties of natural 
affection, sympathy, and regard, to request you, that you suffer 
Christian charity and compassion so far to prevail in your 
minds as to take off the bonds of those innocent and oppressed 
Friends, and entreat you not let the ruin of such, who have evi- 
denced their strong attachment to their native country, and a 
benevolent disposition to mankind in general, to lie at the door 
of a people professing the tender and compassionate religion of 
Christ, one of whose excellent precepts was, " Whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 



280 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



The melancholy account we have lately received, of the in- 
disposition of our beloved husbands and children, and that the 
awful messenger — death — had made an inroad on one of their 
number, (Thomas Gilpin,) to the unspeakable grief and irre- 
parable loss of an amiable wife and children, hath deeply 
affected our minds, and divers of our families are in a distressed 
situation. We therefore ardently desire you to make the case 
your own. No doubt many of you have wives and tender 
children, and must know that, in time of trial and distress, none 
are so proper to alleviate and bear a part of the burden, as 
their affectionate husbands. 

We firmly believe these, our dear friends, are clear and 
innocent of the charges alleged against them ; which they, for 
themselves, and their friends for them, have fully answered ; 
and that they are now suffering for a steady and firm adhe- 
rence to their inoffensive and peaceable principles. 

This application to you on this interesting subject, is entirely 
an act of our own. We have not consulted our absent friends 
on the occasion, hoping and believing it will not be of disser- 
vice ; and we request you will take no offence at the freedom 
of women so deeply interested as we are in this matter, and 
that Divine Benevolence may so influence your hearts as to 
grant our earnest request ; in which, we doubt not, you will 
find true peace in the hour of retribution ; and it will be also 
an inexpressible consolation to your suffering and sorrowful 
friends, 

Hannah Pemberton, Mary Pemberton, 

Isabella Affleck, Eliza Drinker, 

Rebecca Jervis, Sarah Fisher, 

Phebe Pemberton, Susanna Jones, 

Sarah R. Fisher, Mary Pleasants, 

Mary Eddy, Mary Brown, 

Sarah Pennington, Elizabeth Smith, 

Rachel Wharton, Eliza Jervis, 

Esther Fisher, Rachel Hunt. 

Philadelphia, 4th month 1st, 1778. 



APPENDIX. 281 

Ordered, That the prisoners now in Virginia, be brought to 
this borough, instead of being enlarged at Shippensburg. 

The Board of War having sent to Council an order to Joseph 
Holmes, Esq., to deliver over to the order of the President and 
Council of this State, all prisoners of this State now under his 
care, thereupon 

Ordered, That an order be endorsed thereon, for the de- 
livery of the said prisoners to Mr. Baily and Captain Lang. 

April 21st. 

The Council resuming the consideration of the case of the 
prisoners which are ordered to this borough from Winchester, 
agreeable to the request of Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Pemberton, Mrs. 
Pleasants, and Mrs. Drinker, and the same being fully considered, 
thereupon 

Ordered, That on their arrival here, it shall be at the election 
of the said prisoners to be set at liberty in the borough, or at 
Pottsgrove, in the county of Philadelphia. 

April 27th. 

Captain Lang and Mr. Baily report, that they had received 
from Alexander White, Esq., who acted for and in behalf of 
Joseph Holmes, Esq., Deputy Commissary of Prisoners, the 
following persons, agreeable to the order of this Council, viz. : 
Israel Pemberton, &c. ; and that the said gentlemen were now 
in this borough, agreeable to the order of Council. That they 
had been informed by Alexander White, Esq., that Thomas 
Gilpin and John Hunt were dead. Thomas Affleck, one of the 
prisoners sent to Virginia, having obtained leave to come to 
this borough, in consideration of the dangerous illness of his 
wife, being also arrived here. 

The case of the prisoners brought from Virginia, and now 
in this borough, being considered, thereupon 

Ordered, That they be immediately sent to Pottsgrove, in 
the County of Philadelphia, and there discharged from confine- 



282 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

ment ; and that they be furnished with a copy of the order, 
which shall be deemed a discharge. 

(Note. Under the certified copy of this resolve, given to the 
respective gentlemen, the following certificate was inserted, and 
signed by the Secretary, viz. : 

(A. B.) of the City of Philadelphia, gentleman, one of the 
prisoners referred to by the above order of Council, is hereby 
permitted, with his horses, servants, and baggage, to pass un- 
molested into the County of Philadelphia, agreeably to the said 
order, which is to be respected as their discharge.) 

A pass to Philadelphia, for Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Pemberton, Mrs. 
Pleasants, and Mrs. Drinker, and for Israel Morris, who 
attended them, being requested ; on consideration, 

Ordered, That a pass be granted to the aforesaid persons, 
with their servant, to return to headquarters, and from thence 
to Philadelphia, if General Washington shall think proper for 
them so to do. 



PAPERS PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 

(See Dunlap's Pennsylvania Packet, No. 304, dated Tuesday, 6 September, 1777, 
in the Philadelphia Library, No. 384, Folio.) 

Philadelphia, September 6. 

THE TESTIMONY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED QUAKERS, GIVEN FORTH BY A 
MEETING OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF SAID PEOPLE, IN PENNSYL- 
VANIA AND NEW JERSEY, HELD AT PHILADELPHIA THE TWENTY- 
FOURTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH, 1775. 

Having considered with real sorrow, the unhappy contest 
between the Legislature of Great Britain and the people of these 
Colonies, and the animosities consequent thereon; we have by 



APPENDIX. 



283 



repeated public advices and private admonitions, used our en- 
deavours to dissuade the members of our religious Society from 
joining with the public resolutions promoted and entered into 
by some of the people, which as we apprehended, so we now 
find have increased contention, and produced great discord and 
confusion. 

The divine principle of grace and truth which we profess, 
leads all who attend to its dictates, to demean themselves as 
peaceable subjects, and to discountenance and avoid every 
measure tending to excite disaffection to the King, as supreme 
magistrate, or to the legal authority of his government ; to 
which purpose many of the late political writings and addresses 
to the people appearing to be calculated, we are led by a sense 
of duty to declare our entire disapprobation of them — their 
spirit and temper being not only contrary to the nature and 
precepts of the gospel, but destructive of the peace and harmony 
of civil society, disqualify men in these times of difficulty, for 
the wise and judicious consideration and promoting of such 
measures as would be most effectual for reconciling differences, 
or obtaining the redress of grievances. 

From our past experience of the clemency of the King and 
his royal ancestors, we have grounds to hope and believe, that 
decent and respectful addresses from those who are vested 
with legal authority, representing the prevailing dissatisfactions 
and the cause of them, would avail towards obtaining relief, 
ascertaining and establishing the just rights of the people, and 
restoring the public tranquillity ; and we deeply lament that 
contrary modes of proceeding have been pursued, which have 
involved the Colonies in confusion, appear likely to produce 
violence and bloodshed, and threaten the subversion of the 
constitutional government, and of that liberty of conscience, for 
the enjoyment of which, our ancestors were induced to en- 
counter the manifold dangers and difficulties of crossing the 
seas, and of settling in the wilderness. 

We are, therefore, incited by a sincere concern for the peace 
and welfare of our country, publicly to declare against every 



284 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



usurpation of power and authority, in opposition to the laws 
and government, and against all combinations, insurrections, 
conspiracies, and illegal assemblies ; and as w r e are restrained 
from them by the conscientious discharge of our duty to Al- 
mighty God, " by whom kings reign, and princes decree 
justice," we hope through his assistance and favour, to be 
enabled to maintain our testimony against any requisitions 
which may be made of us, inconsistent with our religious prin- 
ciples, and the fidelity we owe to the King and his government, 
as by law established ; earnestly desiring the restoration of that 
harmony and concord which have hitherto united the people of 
these provinces, and been attended by the divine blessing on 
their labours. 

Signed, in and on behalf of the said meeting, 

James Pemberton, 

Clerk at this time. 

The Quakers in Pennsylvania, much alarmed at the present 
distracted proceedings of the Colonies, in the opposition making 
to the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain, foreseeing 
the most fatal consequences both to themselves and the parent 
country, have thought it necessary to address their brethren in 
the adjacent provinces, and have published the following epistle, 
declaring their disapprobation of the measures prosecuting for 
obtaining redress, and earnestly requesting all of their com- 
munion to avoid joining in such measures as are totally incon- 
sistent with their religious principles. 

AN EPISTLE FROM THE MEETING FOR SUFFERINGS, HELD IN PHILADEL- 
PHIA, FOR PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY, THE FIFTH DAY OF THE 
FIRST MONTH, 1775. 

To our friends and brethren in these and the adjacent Provinces. 

Dear Friends, — 
During the troubles and commotions which have prevailed, 
and still continue in this once peaceful land, much seasonable 



APPENDIX. 



285 



and weighty advice hath been frequently communicated, and 
particularly by our late Yearly Meeting, exhorting Friends in 
every part of their conduct, to act agreeable to the peaceable 
principles and testimony we profess ; which we fervently de- 
sire may be duly attended to and put in practice : yet as some 
public resolves have been lately entered into, with the concur- 
rence and approbation of some members of our religious Society, 
the nature and tendency of which are evidently contrary to our 
religious principles, our minds have been deeply affected with 
affliction and sorrow, and we have in much affection and 
brotherly love been engaged to use our endeavours to convince 
these our brethren of their deviation : in the discharge of which 
duty, so far as we have proceeded, we have had the evidence 
of peace. 

And, dear friends, we are now constrained in the renewings 
of true love, to intreat and exhort all, with humility and reve- 
rence, to bear in mind, that our real welfare and preservation, 
on the foundation of our religious fellowship and communion, 
depends on our faithfully adhering to the doctrines and pre- 
cepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, who expressly declared, " My 
kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this 
world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be de- 
livered to the Jews ; but now is my kingdom not from hence." 
(John xviii. 36.) Which ever since we were a people, we 
have publicly professed should be religiously observed by us as 
the rule of our conduct. 

As divers members of our religious Society, some of them 
without their consent or knowledge, have been lately nominated 
to attend on and engage in some public affairs, which they 
cannot undertake without deviating from these our religious 
principles; we therefore earnestly beseech and advise them, 
and all others, to consider the end and purpose of every mea- 
sure to which they are desired to become parties, and with 
great circumspection and care to guard against joining in any 
for the asserting and maintaining our rights and liberties, which 
on mature deliberation, appear not to be dictated by that 



286 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA, 



"wisdom which is from above, which is pure, peaceable, 
gentle, and full of mercy and good fruits." (James iii. 10.) 

" Every instance of conduct inconsistent with our Christian 
profession, tends to violate the testimony we ought to maintain 
of the sufficiency of that divine principle of light and grace, by 
a steady attention to which our ancestors were led, in times of 
great commotion and difficulty, to an humble patient waiting 
for that relief and liberty, which after a time of deep suffering 
was granted them." 

And as they were often engaged with Christian fortitude and 
freedom to remonstrate to those who were in power, whenever 
under sufferings, they could safely do it, without fear of being 
reproached for any part of their conduct having ministered just 
occasion of offence ; or for having ever been concerned in any 
kind of conspiracies, or combinations against the government 
under which they lived. 

" Should any now so far deviate from their example, and the 
practice of faithful Friends at all times since, as manifest a dis- 
position to contend for liberty by any methods or agreements 
contrary to the peaceable spirit and temper of the gospel, which 
ever breathes peace on earth and good-will to all men ;" as it 
is the duty, we desire it may be the care of Friends, in every 
meeting where there are any such, speedily to treat with them, 
agreeable to our Christian discipline, and endeavour to con- 
vince them of their error ; in which labour let all be done in 
true charity and brotherly love, and the effect will be happy to 
those who receive it in the same spirit. This religious care 
steadily maintained, will clearly testify the sincerity of our de- 
sires " to guard against being drawn into measures which may 
minister occasion to any to represent us as a people departing 
from the principles we profess ; and will likewise excite such, 
who have been so incautious as to enter into engagements, the 
terms and tendency of which they had not duly considered, to 
avoid doing any thing inconsistent with our principles;" and 
constantly to remember, that to fear God, honour the king, and 
do good to all men, is our indispensable duty. 



APPENDIX. 287 

And, dear friends, 

And in a degree of that divine love which unites in Chris- 
tian communion and fellowship, we tenderly salute you, de- 
siring that we may more diligently press after and seek for an 
establishment on that Rock, against which the gates of hell 
shall never prevail, that we may be supported steadfast, when 
storms and tempests, which for the trial of our faith and the 
more thoroughly purging us from those things which are of a 
defiling nature, are permitted ; for the Lord, whom we desire 
to serve, tenderly regards his depending children, and all his 
chastisements are in mercy directed to redeem and preserve 
them from evil. 

Signed, in and on behalf of the said meeting, by 

John Pemberton, 

Clerk. 



THE ANCIENT TESTIMONY AND PRINCIPLES OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 
QUAKERS, RENEWED, WITH RESPECT TO THE KING AND GOVERN- 
MENT; AND TOUCHING THE COMMOTIONS NOW PREVAILING IN THESE 
AND OTHER PARTS OF AMERICA. ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE IN 
GENERAL. 

A religious concern for our friends and fellow-subjects of 
every denomination, and more especially for those of all ranks, 
who in the present commotions, are engaged in public employ- 
ments and stations, induces us earnestly to beseech every in- 
dividual, in the most solemn manner, to consider the end and 
tendency of the measures they are promoting; and on the 
most impartial inquiry into the state of their minds, carefully 
to examine whether they are acting in the fear of God, and in 
conformity to the precepts and doctrine of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, whom we profess to believe in, and that by him alone 
we expect to be saved from our sins. 

The calamities and afflictions which now surround us should, 
as we apprehend, affect every mind with the most aw T ful 



288 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

consideration of the dispensations of Divine Providence to 
mankind in general in former ages, and that as the sins and 
iniquities of the people subjected them to grievous sufferings, 
the same causes still produce the like effects. 

The inhabitants of these provinces were long signally 
favoured with peace and plenty. Have the returns of true 
thankfulness been generally manifest ? Have integrity and 
godly simplicity been maintained, and religiously regarded ? 
Hath a religious care to do justly, love mercy, and walk 
humbly, been evident? Hath the precept of Christ, to do unto 
others as we would they should do unto us, been the govern- 
ing rule of our conduct 1 Hath an upright impartial desire to 
prevent the slavery and oppression of our fellow-men, and to 
restore them to their natural rights, to true Christian liberty, 
been cherished and encouraged l Or have pride, wantonness, 
luxury, profaneness, a partial spirit, and forgetfulnessof the good- 
ness and mercies of God, become lamentably prevalent? Have 
we not, therefore, abundant occasion to break off from our sins 
by righteousness, and our iniquities by showing mercy to the 
poor; and with true contrition and abasement of soul, to humble 
ourselves, and supplicate the almighty Preserver of men, to show 
favour, and to renew unto us a state of tranquillity and peace ? 
It is our fervent desire that this may soon appear to be the 
pious resolution of the people in general, of all ranks and de- 
nominations; then may we have a well-grounded hope, that 
wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable, and full of 
mercy and good fruits, will preside and govern in the delibera- 
tions of those who, in these perilous times, undertake the 
transaction of the most important public affairs ; and that by 
their steady care and endeavours, constantly to act under the 
influences of this wisdom, those of inferior stations will be in- 
cited diligently to pursue those measures which make for 
peace, and tend to the reconciliation of contending parties, on 
principles dictated by the spirit of Christ, who " came not to 
destroy men's lives, but to save them." (Luke ix. 56.) 

We are so fully assured that these principles are the most 



APPENDIX. 289 

certain and effectual means of preventing the extreme misery 
and desolations of wars and bloodshed, that we are constrained 
to entreat all who profess faith in Christ, to manifest that they 
really believe in him and desire to obtain the blessings he pro- 
nounced to the makers of peace. (Matt. v. 9.) 

His spirit ever leads to seek for and improve every oppor- 
tunity of promoting peace and reconciliation, and constantly 
to remember that as we really confide in him, he can, in his 
own time, change the hearts of all men in such manner, that 
the way to obtain it, hath been often opened contrary to every 
human prospect or expectation. 

May we, therefore, heartily and sincerely unite in supplica- 
tions to the Father of Mercies, to grant the plentiful effusions 
of his spirit to all, and in an especial manner to those in superior 
stations, that they may with sincerity, guard against and reject 
all such measures and councils, as may increase and perpetuate 
the discord, animosities, and unhappy contentions which now 
sorrowfully abound. 

We cannot but with distressed minds, beseech all such in the 
most solemn and awful manner, to consider that, if by their 
acting and persisting in a proud, selfish spirit, and not regard- 
ing the dictates of true wisdom, such measures are pursued as 
tend to the shedding of innocent blood ; in the day when they 
and all men shall appear at the judgment seat of Christ, to re- 
ceive a reward according to their works, they will be excluded 
from his favour, and their portion will be everlasting misery. 
(See Matt. xxv. 41 ; 2 Cor. v. 10.) 

The peculiar evidence of divine regard manifested to our 
ancestors, in the founding and settlement of these provinces, 
we have often commemorated, and desire ever to remember, 
with true thankfulness and reverent admiration. 

When we consider — That at the time they were persecuted 
and subjected to severe sufferings, as a people unworthy of the 
benefits of civil or religious liberty, the hearts of the king and 
rulers under whom they suffered, were inclined to grant them 
these fruitful countries, and entrust them with charters of very 

19 



290 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

extensive powers and privileges. That on their arrival here, 
the minds of the natives were inclined to receive them with 
great hospitality and friendship ; and to cede to them the most 
valuable part of their land on very easy terms. That while 
the principles of justice and mercy continued to preside, they 
were preserved in tranquillity and peace, free from the desolating 
calamities of war ; and their endeavours were wonderfully 
blessed and prospered, so that the saying of the wisest of 
kings was signally verified to them, " when a man's ways 
please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace 
with him." (Pro. xvi. 7.) 

The benefits, advantages and favour we have experienced 
by our dependence on, and connexion with, the kings and 
government, under which we have enjoyed this happy state, 
appear to demand from us the greatest circumspection, care, 
and constant endeavours, to guard against every attempt to 
alter or subvert that dependence or connexion. 

The scenes lately presented to our view, and the prospect 
before us, we are sensible are very distressing and discouraging; 
and though we lament that such amicable measures as have 
been proposed, both here and in England, for the adjustment 
of the unhappy contests subsisting, have not yet been effectual, 
nevertheless, we should rejoice to observe the continuance of 
mutual peaceable endeavours for effecting a reconciliation ; 
having grounds to hope that the divine favour and blessing will 
attend them. 

" It hath ever been our judgment and principle, since we 
were called to profess the light of Christ Jesus, manifested in 
our consciences unto this day, that the setting up, and putting 
down kings and government, is God's peculiar prerogative ; 
for causes best known to himself; and that it is not our business 
to have any hand or contrivance therein, nor to be busybodies 
above our station, much less to plot and contrive the ruin, or 
overturn of any of them, but to pray for the king, and safety 
of our nation, and good of all men ; that we may live a peace- 
able and quiet life, in all godliness and honesty ; under the 



APPENDIX. 291 

government which God is pleased to set over us." — Ancient 
Testimony, 1696, in Sewall's History. 

May we therefore firmly unite in the abhorrence of all such 
writings, and measures, as evidence a desire and design to 
break off the happy connexion we have heretofore enjoyed, 
with the kingdom of Great Britain, and our just and necessary 
subordination to the king, and those who are lawfully placed in 
authority under him ; that thus the repeated solemn declara- 
tions, made on this subject, in the addresses sent to the king, 
on behalf of the people of America in general, may be con- 
firmed, and remain to be our firm and sincere intentions to 
observe and fulfil. 

Signed, in and on behalf of a meeting of the representatives 
of our religious Society, in Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey ; held at Philadelphia, the 20th day of the first 
month, 1776. 

John Pemberton, 
Clerk. 

TO OUR FRIENDS AND BRETHREN IN RELIGIOUS PROFESSION, IN THESE 
AND THE ADJACENT PROVINCES. 

Dearly beloved friends and brethren. 

Our minds being renewedly impressed with a fervent religious 
concern for your spiritual welfare, and preservation in the love 
and fellowship of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Prince of Peace, by the constrainings of his love, we are 
engaged to salute you in this time of deep exercise, affliction, 
and difficulty ; earnestly desiring, that we may by steady cir- 
cumspection and care, in every part of our conduct and con- 
versation, evidence, that under the close trials, which are and 
may be permitted to attend us, our faith and reliance is fixed 
on him alone for protection and deliverance, remembering his 
gracious promise to his faithful followers, " Lo, I am with you 
alway even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 20.) 

And " as it became him for whom are all things, and by 



292 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to 
make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings," 
(Heb. ii. 10) let us not be dismayed, if we are now led in 
the same path. 

As we keep in the Lord's power and peaceable truth, which 
is over all, and therein seek the good of all, neither outward 
sufferings, persecutions, nor any outward thing that is below, 
will hinder or break our heavenly fellowship in the light and 
spirit of Christ. (G. Fox's Epistle, 1685.) 

Thus we may with Christian fortitude and firmness withstand 
and refuse to submit to the arbitrary injunctions and ordinances 
of men, who assume to themselves the power of compelling 
others, either in person or by other assistance, to join in car- 
rying on war, and in prescribing modes of determining con- 
cerning our religious principles, by imposing tests not war- 
ranted by the precepts of Christ, or the laws of the happy con- 
stitution, under which we and others long enjoyed tranquillity 
and peace. 

We therefore, in ihe abounding* of that love, which wisheth 
the spiritual and temporal prosperity of all men, exhort, ad- 
monish and caution, all who make religious profession with us, 
and especially our beloved youth, to stand fast in that liberty, 
wherewith through the manifold sufferings of our predecessors, 
we have been favoured, and steadily to bear our testimony 
against every attempt to deprive us of it. 

And, dear friends, you who have known the truth, and the 
powerful operations thereof in your minds, adhere faithfully 
thereto, and by your good examples and stability, labour to 
strengthen the w T eak, confirm the wavering, and warn and 
caution the unwary against being beguiled by the snares of the 
adversaries of truth and righteousness. Let not the fear of 
suffering, either in person or property, prevail on any to join 
with or promote any work or preparation for war. 

Our profession and principles are founded on that spirit 
which is contrary to, and will in time put an end to all wars, 
and bring in everlasting righteousness; and by our constantly 



APPENDIX. 



293 



abiding under the direction and instruction of that spirit, we 
may be endued with that " wisdom from above, which is first 
pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of 
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypo- 
crisy." (James iii. 17.) That this may be our happy experience 
is our fervent desire and prayer. 

Signed, in and on behalf of the meeting for sufferings held in 
Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the 
20th day of the 12th month, 1776. 

John Pemberton, 

Clerk. 

MINUTE OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING HELD IN PHILADELPHIA, 8tH 
MONTH, 4th, 1777. 

The account from the several meetings in Philadelphia re- 
lating to the subject of sufferings being read, their care and 
attention to the direction of the Yearly Meeting is approved 
of, and their further attention on such cases as may arise is 
desired ; and as it may be useful for these now brought to be 
communicated to the Meeting for Sufferings for further con- 
sideration, the clerk is directed to lay them before that 
meeting. 

Copied from the minutes of said meeting. 

John Pemberton, 

Clerk. 

at a monthly meeting of philadelphia, held on the 25th and 
3 1st days 7th month, and 1st 8th month, 1777. 

" A committee being appointed, agreeable to the recom- 
mendation of our last Yearly Meeting, to advise and assist any 
of our friends who have been brought under sufferings on 
account of our Christian testimony, and to preserve a record 
of sufferings, have acquainted this meeting in writing, that 
they have several times met and freely conferred on the sub- 



294 



EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



ject, and although a number of our brethren have suffered on 
various occasions under the prevailing tumults and confusions 
which have attended, yet no account of particular cases hath 
been so collected as to enable them to make a full report there- 
on ; we have therefore continued the same committee, and de- 
sired their further attention to the service, that the intention of 
the Yearly Meeting may be fulfilled. 

AT A MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS IN PHILADELPHIA FOR THE 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT, HELD THE 30TH 7tII MONTH, 1777, BY AD- 
JOURNMENT. 

The committee appointed by this meeting, to advise and 
assist such of our members who might be subjected to suffer- 
ing for the testimony of truth, and to keep a record thereof, 
agreeably to the direction of the last Yearly Meeting, brought 
in a report in writing, a copy of which is herewith sent. 

" TO THE MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS IN PHILADELPHIA FOR THE 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 

" We the committee appointed to advise and assist such of 
our members who might be subjected to suffering for the tes- 
timony of truth, and to keep a record thereof, agreeably to the 
direction of last Yearly Meeting, do report, That we have 
kept this matter under our care, in order that we might give 
our assistance when necessary. And although there were 
some occurrences previous to our appointment, wherein some 
were subjected to suffering, no cases have fallen out of late 
which required our particular care. Nevertheless w T e may 
observe that some Friends have been injured in their property, 
by having had blankets taken from them on account of their 
non-compliance with a requisition that was made for a number 
of blankets, for the purpose of equipping soldiers going to war. 
Some also who followed their lawful vocations on the days 
appointed by those in authority, to be observed as public fasts, 



APPENDIX. 295 

have been molested, and their shops violently shut by the 
rabble. 

" And likewise on the evening of a day lately appointed by 
the present powers, for public rejoicing, divers Friends had 
their windows broke by a licentious mob, because they could 
not join with the multitude in illuminating their windows. But 
no account has been brought in by any Friend of the loss or 
damage they have sustained. 

" Signed, at ihe request and on behalf of the committee, by 

" John Reynell. 

"Philadelphia, 28th 7th month, 1777." 

The Monthly Meeting for the Northern District having had 
a committee appointed to the like service, produced to that 
meeting the following report. 

v Inasmuch as divers of our members have been subjected 
to various losses, oppressions and impositions, under the present 
commotions and tumults, the committee appointed in the 12th 
month last, to preserve a record of the sufferings of our brethren 
for a faithful adherence to the cause and testimony of truth, 
think it right to submit to the consideration of the Monthly 
Meeting, a general view of the several matters in which the 
committee have been exercised, to encourage and promote 
faithfulness, and a conduct consistent with our religious pro- 
fession, as also by a brotherly sympathy and labour, to endea- 
vour to relieve, assist and strengthen, some of our oppressed 
brethren. 

" Many of our houses have been stripped of the leaden 
weights used for the hanging of windows, by order of those 
who have in these tumultuous times assumed the rule. In like 
manner have a considerable number of blankets been forcibly 
taken and carried away from many Friends, declared to be for 
fitting out men to go to war. The being compelled into a con- 
tribution for such a purpose has been grievous to honest minds. 
And some have had their stock of this necessary article so re- 
duced, as to be likely to want the needful covering in a cooler 



296 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

season. So far as have come to our knowledge, we have 
reason to believe Friends have mostly suffered in this, and the 
first instance, with a good degree of patience and meekness, 
and have generally shown a disapprobation of such exactions. 

" The houses of several Friends have been wantonly abused, 
and their windows broke and destroyed by a rude rabble, for 
not joining with the present rulers in their pretended acts of 
devotion, and conforming to their ordinances in making a show 
of that sort in shutting up our houses and shops, professedly to 
observe a day of humiliation, and to crave a blessing on their 
public proceedings, but evidently tending to spread the spirit of 
strife and contention. 

" The like abuses and wanton destruction of our property 
hath lately been repeated, because Friends could not illuminate 
their houses, and conform to such vain practices, and outward 
marks of rejoicing, to commemorate the time of these people's 
withdrawing themselves from all subjection to the English 
government, and from our excellent constitution, under which 
we long enjoyed peace and prosperity. 

" Some of our members have also had soldiers forced into 
their houses and kept there for some time, by which families 
have been much incommoded, and our peaceable testimony 
disregarded by the authors of this imposition. 

"Edward Wells was seized in the street by a number of 
armed men, and for refusing to bear arms, or to aid and assist 
in warlike services, he was committed to the New Prison in 
this city, and there confined about three days, by order of 
General Putnam. 

" And for the like refusal Thomas Masterman, William 
Brown, and William Wayne, were taken from their dwellings 
by an armed company of men, and with drum and music 
paraded through the streets for a considerable time before they 
w T ere permitted to return to their habitations. 

" Samuel Shaw having been appointed under the present 
rulers to act in conjunction with their magistrates as an 
overseer of the poor, after a deliberate consideration of the 



APPENDIX. 



297 



matter, concluded to decline the office, believing it to be incon- 
sistent with his own peace of mind, and the solid advice of 
Friends at our last Yearly Meeting. He was fined for refusing 
to serve, twenty pounds, and had his goods distrained and 
taken from him to the value of twenty-eight pounds. 

" William Compton's case will close the report we have to 
make, which is set forth in the two following minutes of our 
Monthly Meeting, except that of his having been kept close 
prisoner near six weeks, debarred from the conversation and 
advice of his friends, and thereby prevented from manifesting 
innocence of the charge brought against him, at a time when 
he was threatened with verv severe usage, even to the endan- 
gering of his life, although from aught that has appeared, the 
authors of this injurious and cruel treatment had not the least 
grounds therefor. 

"5th month 27th, 1777. — The committee appointed to afford 
their advice and assistance to such of our brethren as might be 
brought under suffering, having had divers meetings with the 
overseers and several other Friends, and taken into their con- 
sideration the situation of William Compton, one of our mem- 
bers, who was committed to the New Prison in this city on the 
18th day of last month, by a written order signed by Philip 
Schuyler, acting in the character of a general and commander 
of the military forces in this city; and though repeated applica- 
tions have been made to him, and his promise obtained, that 
William should be enlarged, having informed Friends that so 
far as had come to his knowledge nothing criminal in the view 
of those w 7 ho now exercise authority in this place, had upon 
examination been found against him ; yet he is still continued 
in confinement, and there appears fresh occasion for an exercise 
of brotherly care and Christian sympathy in his case. After a 
solid deliberation thereon in this meeting, our friends John 
Hunt, Charles West, John Parrish, Samuel Smith, William 
Cowper, William Fisher, Joshua Howell, Isaac Cathrall, and 
Henry Drinker, were appointed to take the same under their 
immediate and religious care, and desired to afford such assist- 



298 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

ance and help therein as our said friend's situation may appear 
to require, and should they apprehend it necessary, they are at 
liberty to lay the same before our Meeting for Sufferings for 
their advice in this matter, in which our Society now is, and 
may be deeply interested. 

"5th month 25th, 1777. — The committee nominated last 
month having several times met together with some of our 
brethren in this city, on the day of their appointment and the 
succeeding day, and seriously considered the alarming stretch 
of power which had been, and the severity which was proposed 
to be exercised in the case of William Compton, they concluded 
it right to remonstrate against, and endeavour to prevent some 
very arbitrary proceedings, with which he was then threatened, 
and after diligently pursuing the matter, and personally attend- 
ing an examination which he was subjected to, a discharge 
from his confinement was obtained, with a certificate that 
there did not appear the least grounds for the charge brought 
against him. 

Samuel Smith, 
William Cowper, 
Charles West, 
John Parrish, 
Henry Drinker. 

" To the Monthly Meeting of Friends of the Northern Dis- 
trict of Philadelphia, to be held by adjournment this day. 

"Philadelphia, 7th month 29th, 1777." 

The foregoing report was read, and considered, in our said 
meeting, and committed to the care of the representatives, to 
be laid before our Quarterly Meeting. 

Henry Drinker, 
Clerk 

The amount of Friends' sufferings brought up from our seve- 
ral Monthly Meetings, chiefly for not bearing arms and paying 



APPENDIX. 299 

taxes for supporting a war against the government this year, 
is four hundred and sixteen pounds five shillings, Pennsylvania 
currency. 

Divers Friends were imprisoned; some soon discharged; 
three continued prisoners upwards of three months, were fined 
by the court but not yet levied, and their persons discharged 
from imprisonment. 

Extract from the minutes of our Quarterly Meeting, held in 
Rahway, the 18th of 8th month, 1777. 

By John Shotwell, 

Clerk. 



Extract of a letter from General Sullivan to Congress, dated Hanover, 
August 25, 1777. 

" Among the baggage taken on Staten Island, the 22d instant, 
I find a number of important papers. A copy of three I enclose 
for the perusal of Congress. The one from the Yearly Meeting 
at Spanktown, held the 19th instant, I think worthy the atten- 
tion of Congress. 

"No. 1. Where is Washington 1 what number of men or cannon? 

2. Where is Sterling? what number of men and cannon? 

3. Where is Sullivan ? &c. 

4. Where is Dayton and Ogden ? what number ? 

5. Whether there be any troops passing or repassing ? 

6. Intelligence from Albany. 

7. Intelligence from Philadelphia. 

8. Be very particular about time and place. 

" Information from Jersey, 19 August, 1777. 

" It is said General Howe landed near the head of Chesa- 
peake Bay, but cannot learn the particular spot, nor when. 

" Washington lays in Pennsylvania, about twelve miles from 
Coryell's Ferry. 

" Sullivan lays about six miles northward of Morristown, 
with about two thousand men. 

" Spanktown Yearly Meeting. 



300 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 



11 Intelligence from Jersey, Sunday, July 28, 1777. 

" I saw on their full march, seven miles from Morristown, on 
the road to Delaware, General Washington, General Muhlen- 
burg, General Weeden, with two thousand men. and General 
Knox with his train of artillery, consisting of fourteen field 
pieces, and one howitz, seventy-nine ammunition wagons, and 
one hundred and thirty baggage wagons; and then proceeding 
on the road from Hackettstown to Easton, there saw on their 
full march to Delaware, General Stevens and General Scott, 
with four thousand men and light field pieces, and on the road 
met twenty-nine flat-bottomed boats, and proceeded down to 
Quibbletown, where I saw General Stirling and General Con- 
way with three thousand men and no field pieces. I am in- 
formed that General Sullivan has crossed the North River, and 
is bringing up the rear. As to the truth of that, 1 hope I shall 
be able to inform you in two or three days." 

Received, August 31, 1777. 

Published by order of Congress. 

Charles Thomson, 

Secretary. 



Many of the historical writers on the American Revolution 
having censured the Society of Friends for their attachment to 
the Colonial Government, and for the expressions in their 
epistles to their members, of the satisfaction and advantages 
they had enjoyed under it, it will be proper to show that 
Congress, even at a subsequent date, made use of stronger ex- 
pressions in their public addresses to the king, of their loyalty 
and attachment ; and for this purpose the following documents 
are inserted in relative position to each other. 



APPENDIX. 



301 



Epistle of Friends, 1st month 24th, 
1775. 

" We are therefore excited by a sin- 
cere concern for the peace and welfare 
of our country, publicly to declare 
against every usurpation of power in 
opposition to the laws and government, 
and against all combinations, insurrec- 
tions, conspiracies, and illegal assem- 
blies; and as we are restrained from 
them by a conscientious discharge of 
our duties to Almighty God, by whom 
' kings reign, and princes decree jus- 
tice,' we hope through his assistance 
and favour to be able to maintain our 
testimony against any requisitions which 
may be made of us inconsistent with 
our religious principles, and the fidelity 
we owe to the king and his government 
as by law established, earnestly desiring 
the restoration of that harmony and con- 
cord which have hitherto united the 
people of these provinces, and been 
attended by the divine blessing on their 
labours." 



Address of Congress to the King, July 
8th, 1775. 

" Attached as we are to your majesty's 
person and government, with all the de- 
votion that principle and affection can 
inspire, connected with Great Britain 
by the strongest ties which can unite 
societies, and deploring every event that 
tends in any degree to weaken them, 
we solemnly assure your majesty that 
we not only most ardently desire that 
the former happiness between her and 
these Colonies may be restored, but 
that a concord may be established be- 
tween them upon so firm a basis as to 
perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted 
by any future dissensions, to succeeding 
generations in both countries, and to 
transmit your majesty's name to pos- 
terity, adorned with that signal and 
lasting glory that hath attended the 
memory of those illustrious personages 
whose virtues and abilities have extri- 
cated states from dangerous convul- 
sions, and by securing happiness to 
others, have added the most noble and 
durable monuments to their own fame." 



The historian Gibbon, in summing up the character of the 
primitive Christians, gives the following account of their prin- 
ciples, which is in remarkable coincidence with the tenets of 
the Society of Friends, to which reference is made in the In- 
troduction.* 

" The Christians were not less averse to the business than to 
the pleasures of the world. The defence of our persons and 
property they knew not how to reconcile with the patient doc- 
trine which enjoined an unlimited forgiveness of past injuries, 
and commanded them to invite fresh insults. Their simplicity 

* Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap. xv. 



302 EXILES FROM PENNSYLVANIA. 

was offended by the use of oaths, by the pomp of magistracy, 
and by the active contention of public life ; nor could their 
humane ignorance be convinced that it was lawful on any oc- 
casion to shed the blood of our fellow-creatures, either by the 
sword of justice or by that of war ; even though their criminal 
or hostile attempts should threaten the peace and safety of the 
whole community. It was acknowledged that under a less 
perfect law the powers of the Jewish constitution had been 
exercised, with the approbation of Heaven, by inspired prophets 
and anointed kings. The Christians felt and confessed that 
such institutions might be necessary for the present system of 
the world, and they cheerfully submitted to the authority of 
their Pagan governors. But while they inculcated the maxims 
of passive obedience, they refused to take any active part in 
the civil administration or the military defence of the empire." 



THE END. 



